


Hell Hounds

by MissBlu



Category: Original Work
Genre: Complete, F/M, Fantasy, Hell Hounds, Interracial Relationship, Original Fiction, Romance, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2018-12-31 03:21:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 23,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12123426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissBlu/pseuds/MissBlu
Summary: . . And doesn't fate just work out in the strangest of ways? Never in a million years would I have thought that my heart would be stolen by a damn dog.





	1. Chapter 1

My feet are finally thankful when they hit the soft mound of earth. It was quiet, really quiet. The crickets were the only ones making noise at this hour, but their incessant chirping annoyed me. At the same time, they were the only solace I had walking alone at night. I shouldn't have been walking alone at night or being out at night at all at this hour. Eliza had called me right after I finished my homework and told me to come to the graveyard, she didn't want to be the only girl in the group. Before I could tell her not to go out with only guys, she hung up. I left the house late, Mom was already soundly sleeping. I wanted to make sure Eliza would be okay.    
  
"Eliza?" I whisper to the darkness. I hadn't checked to make sure if she said to wait by the Westwend's cemetery entrance. I brought a flashlight with me, I turned it over a few times, trying to decide what I should do now.    
  
"Amaryllis? Is that you?"   
  
"Eliza?" I point the flashlight to the direction the voice came from, and Eliza shielded her eyes from the light.    
  
"Oh, thank goodness you're here! I totally need your help!" Eliza walks up to me with a wide smile,   
"The boys dared me to come into the cemetery, and when I did they like ran off. I need help finding them."   
  
"Eliza, you know you shouldn't be doing this so late at night."   
  
She rolls her eyes and waves me off, "Whatever. My parents are like super cool about stuff like this, it won't take long, you don't have to stay here for long."   
  
I don't respond to her. Instead she turns and starts walking, I contemplate just leaving but sigh and start following her.    
"Who are we looking for?"   
  
"Mich and his friend."   
  
Now I wanted to leave.   
  
Michael was Eliza's boyfriend of officially one year. The two were going steady and convinced that they were the greatest high school sweethearts of all time, nothing was ever going to separate them from each other . . . At least that's what they cooed to each other in Westwend High's hallways. I wanted to puke whenever I was around them. Eliza has been my best friend since freshman year, and I never minded her dating before. But with Michael she was on like a new high, the girl  acted like everything else just melted away and didn't exist anymore. It was just him and her in a room. I guess every girl dreams of something like that, a relationship that makes you feel like you and your lover are the only ones that are alive on this planet, everything else is just scenery.    
  
"Found you," I hear Eliza scream and she runs to a tree. I'm blinded by her flashlight for several seconds before I see someone slide around the base of the tree. He has his torso up against it but his hips jerked out and his hands jutted into his pockets, his foot is propped up against the bottom of the base. When he hears Eliza, he pushes himself off the Oak tree and wraps his arms around her waist.    
  
"Do I get a reward?" I think she has a coy smile before I see him smile and lean down to kiss her. Michael was awkwardly tall, much taller than Eliza at least. They peck each other on the cheek again, then a third time, then a fourth time before their lips finally crash down on each other and stick. Their heads are bobbing exaggeratedly as they devour each others mouths, searching every corner of the other. I turn and leave when I start to see tongue and Eliza sighs. I hate being the third wheel.   
  
Instead, I begin to look for Michael's friend. In this case, this could've been half the school, Michael was rather popular. But in this case, Michael had the same guy around when he went out with Eliza. I couldn't recall his name, but he was lanky, with blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was charming, but a bit on the quiet side. I wander around for a long time, looking at each name imprinted on the gravestones. There were all names I didn't recognize. I followed the stone gate all the way back to the entrance. I contemplated leaving and giving Eliza a text saying I found the friend, but he went looking for her and Mich. I take my phone out, unlocking it and staring at my home screen.   
  
A low growl snaps me from my thoughts. In front of me a few feet away was a large dog, hunched over and baring it's teeth. Large was probably an understatement. More like great dane. It's head probably reached up to my belly button. I stand there for a while just staring at it, it smelled awful. Like something rotting, food left out for too long. It had the strangest eyes I've ever seen, bright red. Crimson orbs kept boring into me, and I could feel my hands shaking. A moment passes, and the dog stops growling. It turns and sniffs the ground, seemingly uninterested in me now. I take a step forward and it's head snaps up, looking at me.    
  
"E-easy boy . . " I felt like I was saying it more to myself than to the dog.    
  
The dog tilts its head to the side, still staring. I pat it's head, it's fur was surprisingly soft. Maybe I was wrong to assume it was a stray. It sniffs my leg before lowering it's head, and it lets its tongue hang out freely. I scratch its head and behind its ear, and I hear a soft thumping sound. I smile when I see its wagging tail.    
  
"See, I won't hurt you . . ."   
  
I sit next to the dog and wait.    
  
"I should really go home . . . god you smell awful." The dog looks at me.    
  
"Ama? Amaryllis!"    
  
Eliza. I stand up and look to my left, then call out her name. I hear running. Eliza throws herself at me, wrapping her arms around me tightly.    
  
"Don't run off like that!" She exclaims.

You weren't even paying attention, you were too busy sucking face with your boyfriend!   
  
" . . . Sorry."   
  
I hug her and Mich and his friend come walking up behind her. I was thankful all three of them came together so I could be free of this stupid hide n' seek thing. 

  
"I should get going," before my mom wakes up and I get my ass handed to me.    
  
I turn back towards the entrance and see that the dog is now gone. I raise an eyebrow but maybe it just wandered off. It didn't seem too happy about me being around, so maybe it just isn't to keen on other humans . . .


	2. Chapter 2

Monday. It is much too early to be concerned about old dead white people, but my history teacher is insistent about going on and on about the Cold War. Half the class is either zoning out or sleeping, Eliza is under her desk next to me, texting. I'm probably the only one actually taking notes, and I'm only writing about half of what he's saying. I'm telling myself That I'll just have to take the book home and redo the notes when the door creeks open.    
  
Mr. Johnson goes quiet and he turns to an unfamiliar person in the hallway.   
  
"S-sorry, I got lost." A boy says while flashing a smile. He glides over and hands the teacher a note and faces the rest of the class while Mr. Johnson reads it. The guy was average height, he had already went through puberty by his voice. His hair was black and messy, and he was rather pale. The other kids stared at him, intrigued by a new face. From the look on most of the girls, he was definitely a sight to be seen. But what made me stare was his eyes, those bright eyes. That glowing carmine that scanned the room felt all too familiar, my mind flashes back to last night with the dog. Those same eyes . . .   
  
"I see, you're that new kid. Welcome to our class, sit anywhere that's empty."    
  
The kid goes to sit and Mr. Johnson shuffles around the room for a textbook to give him. Poor kid getting that book thrown at him two months into the year. he wasn't far behind but he'd be confused for a while.    
  
Although it's Monday, the lunch room is loud and energetic. Lots of kids have already found their clique, and are huddled together at the different tables. I was with the jocks, not people I would normally hang out with myself but Eliza was magnetized to them. They all laughed way too loudly and talked about girls in ways I didn't need to hear too close to me. As a matter of fact, two of them are going on about another sex-escapade the went on at Saturday night's party, and all the other girls they were curious about. Teenage boys discovering their penises for the first time always made me cringe.    
Eliza is feeding Mich pieces of her brownie with her fingers, and he keeps licking them. Eliza kept giggling before she broke off another piece, she hadn't eaten any of the brownie.    
"So I was thinking, we should totally do a movie night tonight, lots of horror stuff."   
  
"Sure babe."   
  
Eliza eyes me, I didn't even think she was addressing me until she glossed her eyes over, patiently waiting for a response. I scrambled my mind for an excuse, I didn't want to be anywhere near them right now. Not on a Monday when they were in super love mode.    
  
"Mind if I sit here?" The kid from first period is standing near me holding a tray of cafeteria food. I feel so sorry for him.   
  
"Of course, we get to meet the new kid!" Eliza beams at him and he slides in next to me. I tense up and slide my brown bag over.    
  
"So what's your name? I'm Eliza and this is my boyfriend Mich."   
  
"I'm Jet, Jet Aryes." Jet turns his head towards me, "And who might you be cutie?"   
  
"A-Amaryllis." My face heats up and I look at my hands.    
  
"Like the flower?"   
  
I nod. I'm surprised anyone actually knew that my name was technically a flower. A red one, usually gets a lot of attention only around the holidays. I think it's my mother's fault for giving me a strange name, for seeing my bright red hair and immediately thinking of a flower.    
  
"So where ya from, Jet?" Eliza moved to Mich's lap, and his hands instinctively went to her waist. My face heats up and I think I'm blushing at this point, but I wasn't sure if a blush could show up against my dark skin.    
  
"New York."   
  
"Oh, a city boy! What made you come to such a boring old town like Westwend?"   
  
"Family issues. It's easier living here you could say."   
  
Eliza opens her mouth for another question, not realizing she's probably overstepped her boundaries, when Michael stuffs a brownie piece in her mouth. Her jaw is making small yet quick contractions to finish it off, she probably wants to quickly get through her questions ASAP. From the corner of my eye, Jet is playing with his mashed potatoes, which are yellow. He's stirring them with his fork and poking it every now and then, before he pushes it away and looks at me again. I stare at my brown bag. It was empty by now but I wanted to do anything but see those eyes of his.    
  
"Jet, what do you like to do? Any interests?"   
  
Eliza chats away at Jet for several more minutes before I decide it's high time for some damn peace and quiet.    
"I'm stopping by the library, I'll see you guys later." My voice is barely audible in the loud hum of the lunchroom. None of them acknowledge me beside Jet, who just looks up at me with a pained expression. It reminded me of a puppy that didn't want to be left alone. I turn away and throw away my paper bag, then head out the doors.   
  
I sit in the back of the library, happy to cuddle up at a table and plug my headphones into my phone. I turn on my music and pull out the book I checked out last week. It would need to be renewed soon which is why I'm glad I stopped by anyway. An alarm is set to let me know when the bell is about to ring, and I get lost in my pages.    
  
After about thirty pages or so, I stretch and set my book down. In front of me is someone with a leather jacket and dark, messy hair. Jet looks at me with curious eyes, and my arms are above my head, not moving. We're just staring at each other for a long time while Alessia Cara is wondering what she's doing here.    
  
"Sorry, the lovebirds were getting to me," Jet whispers. His whisper is a low hum, but it's honestly much too deep to be considered a real whisper.   
  
I put my arms down, but am unable to think of anything to say in response. Jet just smiles,   
  
"Say something kitten."   
  
I blink twice, "Kitten?"   
  
"Ah, so she does speak."   
  
"I'm not mute . . ."   
  
"Could've fooled me." I check the time on my phone, five minutes before the bell rings. I tuck my book away in my bag and turn off the music on my phone.    
  
"Mind showing me around? I've been late to all of my classes so far . . . " Jet throws me a charming smile that reveals an entire top row of pearly whites.   
  
"S-sure," I mumble and turn towards the door. I'd be surprised if he actually heard me.


	3. Chapter 3

I mentally curse the sky as it unleashes an entire ocean upon the Earth. The thunderstorm is pretty bad. The kids that dash outside to their cars are getting soaked pretty bad. I curse at myself for not checking the weather this morning. I hadn't brought an umbrella, just a hoodie that was bound to get soaked along with my undershirt anyway. Eliza is next to me, staring at the world ending as well. She hasn't said a word since we arrived at the school's front doors.    
  
"I-I'll pull the car around the front."   
  
I pull out my phone, it was time to busy myself with something. When I don't hear any footsteps, I look up. Eliza was standing with her hands on her hips.    
  
"Only if you promise to come to the movie night with me and Michael." My breath hitches and I inwardly sigh.    
  
"Um, actually I'm waiting on my mom to pick me up. Maybe next time?"   
  
Eliza studies my face for a long time, before turning: "Fine, but I'm holding that against you." Michael briskly walks up and opens his umbrella, and Eliza eagerly grabs his arm. The two of them are all snuggled up all the way to Eliza's car. I open my phone and call Stephanie, the only other girl I knew at the moment who could drive, but she isn't answering.   
  
"Hey, you've reached Steph. Leave a message." I hang up in the middle of the beep, I hardly ever left voicemails.    
  
"Afraid to get wet kitten?"   
  
I jump and Jet is suddenly there next to me. His eyes have curiosity written all over them, but his lips are smirking. I huff and look away from him, staring back at the droplets beating the ground mercilessly.    
  
"Aw, don't be like that. I just wanted to give you a ride home."   
  
I look at him, he must've seen the hesitation.   
  
"I'm not the big bad wolf here darlin', it just seems like you don't have any way out of here and this should be the last place anyone wants to be trapped in."   
  
Jet waits a few minutes and takes off his coat when I don't answer. He holds it over my head.   
  
"Come on," he mumbles in a low voice and begin walking. My face heats up again but my legs begin moving. It's a slow pace at first but soon the both of us are running through the parking lot, the raindrops sound loud.   
  
I don't know anything about cars, but I know Jet's car is . . . vintage. I plop myself on the leather seats and look over at Jet who's completely soaked. His hair had curled slightly and he was breathing hard, some droplets had fallen from his face. I look at my legs, the bottom half was soaked.    
  
We both take a moment to catch our breath before Jet put in his key and started up the car. He pulls out of the parking lot.   
  
"So where ya live, kitten?"   
  
I stay silent for a long moment before deciding to tell him my address. It's quiet. Jet doesn't have the radio on, and I'm used to Eliza screaming her head off to whatever pop song is blasting through her speakers.   
  
"You know you can talk to me, I don't bite kitten."   
  
"S-stop calling me kitten."   
  
"Only if you keep talking."   
  
" . . ."   
  
"Kitten," Jet sings in a teasing tone.   
  
"I-I'm not much of a talker, it's harder to think of something like this."   
  
"Hmm . . what about that book of yours you were reading earlier? What's that about?"   
  
I hold my breath and look at the window but it's fogged up. I guess Jet had the heat on high, I guess it was pretty cold considering it was October.    
  
"Kitten?"   
  
"I-it's a ro-romance novel."   
  
"Oh? You like romance? I guess every girl fantasizes about that huh?"   
  
" . . ."   
  
"Don't go quiet on me again kitten. What's else? What's the plot?"   
  
"It's a girl who's with this werewolf guy I guess, lots of fighting."   
  
"I didn't think you were reading Twilight . ."   
  
"-No, it's nothing like that." My face flushes as I realized I said that way too quickly. Jet looks like he's about to burst into laughter, and I stare out the window again.    
  
" . . . It's hot in here," I pull my jacket over my head and place it into my lap.   
  
"Oh sorry," Jet flicks on the AC. To my surprise, the heat wasn't even on . . .


	4. Chapter 4

Tuesday is much easier than Monday. My alarm goes off and I only send it to snooze once before getting up. I slap edge control into my hair and work coconut oil through it. Getting ready is normal: shower, get dressed, then head downstairs to eat breakfast. Mom is outside tending to her garden. she was pulling out her Amaryllises and checking on her pumpkins she planted a while ago. Mom liked gardening, something about it was therapeutic to her I guess. I pull out some waffles and pop them into the toaster. Then I pour some cereal into a bowl.   
  
I'm finishing up the last of my waffles when my mom calls me.   
  
"You friend is here Amaryllis!"   
  
I grab my bag and pull on my hoodie, ready to see Eliza's red corvette. If I knew nothing else about cars, I knew about Eliza's red corvette, her one and only baby. Instead my mouth is hanging open in the doorway as I see an old vintage black car I can only recognize from yesterday.    
  
I snap out of it when Mom eyes me, she was definitely going to get suspicious if I keep being an idiot. I approach the car quickly and throw my bag in the backseat. There was a lot of hair all around it. Black hair. In the far end away from me sits another boy, he has dark auburn hair and red eyes as well. I know him, his name is Josh. I can't seem to recall him having such an unusual eye color though. Josh is looking solemnly out of the window before he turns to me, his face unreadable for a moment. I close the door and slide into the passenger seat.    
  
"What are you doing here?"   
  
"I just thought it'd be nice to give you a ride to school. Eliza told me she usually does it, but I wanted to give her a break." Jet gives me a cheeky smile before backing out of the driveway.    
  
  
"You have a dog?"   
  
Jet scrunches his eyebrows together and looks back at Josh, who's now looking at the both of us.    
  
"Uncle's, I take care of it every now and then."   
  
It's silent for a long time, before Josh rips out an earbud and says much too loudly:   
  
"I didn't know you were talking about Amaryllis."   
  
I look back at Josh, who was smirking at Jet. Josh was on the football team too, Eliza mentioned him a bit and I saw him around at school, but not much else.    
  
"What?" I mutter.   
  
"Jet was going on and on about this amazing girl he met on his first day. Some black girl with red hair, really shy and timid . . ."   
  
Jet tells Josh to shut the hell up and I roll my eyes. Just what other black girl with red hair could he possibly be talking about in the school? Josh was probably messing around.


	5. Chapter 5

There's a substitute for third period English. The assignment was to read the chapter in our book Wuthering Heights. Most of the others just goof around, talking to each other or on their phones. Eliza has resolved to talking my ear off, especially since she knows I've read ahead already.    
  
"So what was that this morning?" Eliza rests her hand underneath her chin, leaning close to me with a smirk.    
  
"What was what?"   
  
"You know. I saw you getting out of the car with Jet this morning."   
  
"Josh was there too . . ."   
  
"That's beside the - actually I didn't know the two were friends."   
  
I didn't know either.    
  
"I don't think Josh has ever talked about him before."   
  
"Even if he had, I'm sure you were too busy with Michael."   
  
Eliza's face flushes red, but she refocuses on me: "So just how does he know where your house is? He did pick you up from your house didn't he? You didn't spend the night at his place did you? Or maybe you snuck him in?!"   
  
"Sshh! Okay, okay. He dropped me off at home the other day."   
  
"So you lied to me about your mom picking you up!"   
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to keep third-wheeling with you and Michael sucking face during a slasher movie."   
  
Eliza bites her lip and blushes deeper, I'm surprised she suddenly feels so embarrassed about it now.    
  
"Sorry, I guess I didn't realize that you were third-wheelin'. But you still owe me a movie night, just you and me next time." Eliza flashes me a toothy smile, and I give a sigh of relief.    
  
"By the way . . . a lot of girls have their eyes out for Jet, he's pretty hot." Eliza is eyeing me while scrolling through her Twitter feed, not really reading anything.    
  
"I suppose so . . ." I mumble and brace myself to open Tumblr.    
  
"You should be careful if people mistake you for his girlfriend or something."   
  
I never thought much about how we would look to other people. But it's only been two days, we couldn't possibly be together that quick! I only knew a little about girls who liked guys, there was an unspoken "dibbs" call, and anyone who defied the rule had to show off their dominance, usually without the said boy's knowledge. I shuddered thinking about a crowd of jealous girls out for my head just because they thought I might be dating Jet. Honestly, someone like me with Jet was just so improbable . . .


	6. Chapter 6

Thursday. A few weeks have passed since Jet came to Westwend High School. Things have been a bit calm I guess, Jet drives me back and forth to school everyday. My mother now thinks I'm dating him, even though I tell him I'm not. Thank god Josh is an idiot and keeps telling everyone that I'm "just one of the guys". It really help with getting rid of the rumors and confrontations. I've only had a few people inquire about our relationship before.  
It's late, the time on my phone reads 8:00 as I leave the library that closes in another hour. I had asked Jet to drop me off there today in order to force myself to study. I was awful at studying, I hardly ever did it. While my grades were decent they certainly could use some improvement.

"What time should I come back?"

"Damn dude, she's got you so fucking whipped!" Josh yells from the backseat. Jet throws an empty can of beer at his head.

"Don't worry about it, my mom is coming after work."

Jet looks at me concerned before I turn and start walking inside the library.

I've called her three times before leaving out to see if she was on her way, but she wasn't answering at all. I listen to the phone buzz once, twice, three times before giving a frustrated sigh. I hope her boss didn't pull her back into some sort of meeting again.

"You have reached - "

I hang up. I wipe the screen a few times with my thumb before unlocking it and calling her again. I leave a voicemail this time:

"Hey mom, it's Amaryllis. I'm at the library, it closes in another hour. Call me back." As I press the end button, I see my shadow in front of me. My outline stretches out farther and I hear the rev of a car from behind me. My legs are frozen in place and it takes a lot of effort to pull my cell phone away from my ear. I begin to finally turn around when I hear a loud screech, and the horrible sound of scratching metal.  
Two glowing claret beads are pointed right at me. There's a low growl, not from the car, but like an animal. Through the headlights are four thin stubs attached to something hunched over. A thick tail and ears remind me that I've found my old friend, except he wasn't too happy. The dog is glaring at me, it's eyes focused on me while growling. The car behind me had a bad dent in the front hood, and the top of the hood was up but bent deeply in the center. A fire was crackling somewhere the engine was, and it seemed like the flames were caught on the dog's fur. It wasn't paying any mind to me, just growling.

"Help! Somebody please help me, I'm stuck!"

The dog's head turns to the car, and it runs off in the next second. Across the road and into the woods. The fire that engulfed it died down and was shrouded by the darkness. I shake my head and tell the driver to hold on, while pulling out my phone and dialing 9-1-1.


	7. Chapter 7

School is called off due to the accident. I can't exactly explain why, it was close to school grounds, but the girl happened to be a student at my school. She had minor injuries, nothing fatal. No one died either. I guess it was nice though, it was easier not to have to explain the accident over and over.

It's about ten a.m. and I'm lounging around in bed. My pajamas are still on, covers over my head, hugging my pillow while the sunlight leaks through the blinds when my phone starts ringing. It's shrill sound hurts my ears, and I'm kind of annoyed at whoever decided to call me at this hour on a rare day off of school.  
The caller ID reads "Liz", and I'm not sure whether I should answer. Eliza wants answers, and she wants them now. I press the green answer button.

"Hello?"

"Ama! Are you okay? I heard about the accident, your mom told me you were already sleeping when I called yesterday."

"I'm fine Liz, you know I can't drive anyway."

"Yeah, but your mom didn't say if you were in the car with someone else or not."

My mom was always skimpy on details, she wasn't much of a gossiper.

"I was leaving the library when someone almost ran me over. I guess they weren't paying attention or something but . . ."

"But . . .?" I bite my lip. Just how the hell was I supposed to tell her that a damn wolf blocked a speeding car from running me over with it's body?

"A . . a wolf or something jumped in front of the car."

"Oh my goodness! That poor animal!"

"It didn't die. In fact I don't think it even got hurt . . . All I saw was the wolf standing there growling at me and a really bad dent in the front of the car, like it hit a pole or something."

Silence.

"Eliza?"

"You're telling me a wolf just decides to jump in front of a speeding car and just . . just destroys the car like a damn wrecking ball?"

"Look, I was freaked out too. I didn't tell anyone else because I might've been seeing things, but it just seemed so real."

"And what did the wolf do then? Walk away all calm and disappear down the road?"

I bite my lip. I hear Eliza sigh.

"Amaryllis, maybe you just need more sleep."

"You sound like my mom."

"Seriously, all this talk about a damn savior wolf is just -"

The doorbell echos throughout the house.

"Hold on a second," I pull the phone away from my ear and walk towards the front door. Mom was away at work and she didn't warn me of anyone stopping by today. Maybe a package arrived for her. Through the peephole I see a familiar leather jacket. Jet.  
My breath hitches and I slam the phone back onto my right ear.

"Eliza? I'll call you back, I need to deal with an unexpected guest."

Eliza says something but I don't bother listening and just hang up. I unlock the door and open it as it groans in defiance. Jet has his hands in his pockets. He seems like he feels really awkward at first, but then he looks at me and smiles.

"Nice pajamas kitten."  
I look down at my clothes. I had on normal black pajama pants, and a long oversized black shirt that had "sleep all day" printed in white across. I had put on my pink bunny slippers like I usually do when walking around the house.

"W-what are you doing here? And don't call me kitten."

"Relax, I just came to check on you," Jet leans in a bit and rests his arm above the door. "I heard what happened Amaryllis, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, not even a scratch." I hold my arms out on either side, showing no bruises or scars, not even a band aid.  
Jet's eyes soften and it seems like he's lost twelve years. I never thought he was so concerned.

"What were you doing leaving the library so late anyway? You know if you needed a ride you could've just called me."  
I huff and my face feels warm, but not in the fluffy good way. While I did appreciate Jet, I didn't want him escorting me around all the time. Did he really not even think that no one would suspect we would be dating? Was he that oblivious?

"It's none of your concern. I was going home and that's all."

Jet holds up his hands, "Okay kitten, no need to bring your claws out."

I grab the doorknob and start to slam the door close, but Jet places his hand on it. I can't believe how strong he is, I can't even budge the door just a little. Not even wiggle it. I'm trying to press the door close still when Jet's voice is closer than before:

"Get dressed kitten, let's go out and have fun." Jet's face is only a few inches away from mine, and I instinctively take a step back.

Fun? Just what the hell did he mean by "have fun"?

Jet is waiting downstairs on the couch, I can hear the T.V. running Maury as I step out of the upstairs bathroom. I quickly step into my bedroom and close the door, locking it. A part of me was sure Jet wouldn't come upstairs until I told him I was ready, but another part of me didn't want to find out if he would do something like that.  
For a moment, I wonder how it would look. Jet downstairs on the couch with the T.V. on, and me getting dressed upstairs in a locked room. My mom might flip if she came home now, or maybe she wouldn't but yell at me about having a boy over without her home. I never really had anyone over except Eliza, she was the only one who my mom seemed okay with having over whenever. But Jet, Jet wasn't established yet. I had no idea what the rules were for other people, especially someone as complicated as Jet.

I realize that I'm zoning out in my towel and begin to get dressed. I put on what I always wear: T-Shirt, jeans, and a pullover hoodie. I throw my hair into a bun, it wasn't long, but wasn't pixie sort either. It reached my shoulders, so it was long enough.  
I take a deep breath before opening my door and heading down the stairs. Jet looks uninterested in the couple arguing about who the father of a cute baby on the screen is. Sometimes I feel bad for a baby that cute, that the father wouldn't want something so adorable, but then I change the channel. I just stand in the hallway facing Jet. I can't find any words to say, so I just stand in the hallway pulling at my hoodie. Jet looks over at me and smiles, his eyes are soft but there's something else there that I've never seen before.

"Ready to go?"

I nod, and turn and grab my phone. I check the time and close it again, putting it in my pocket. I suddenly feel a burst of heat, like someone shoved a furnace next to me and all I can smell is spices. There's something hard against my back. There's a hand dangling in front of my chest.

"Your driving kitten."

I look straight up like a baby bird staring at it's mother. Jet is looking down at me, amusement written all over his face.

"I can't drive your car! What if - "

Jet grabs my hand and places the keys in my open palm.

"It's fine Amaryllis. I'll be next to you."

My face feels warm again.

"Relax Ama, you're doing fine."

I'm not doing fine, my fingers are trembling against the steering wheel and my back aches from being so tense. I'm sure I was sitting up too straight. Whenever another car pulled up in front or around me, I was driving five miles per hour. Turning was a ten minute process. I was just so scared to hit something.

"It's fine kitten, I wouldn't risk getting this car in a wreck if I cared about it that much."

That's easy for you to say. Jet leaned his seat back. Really far back. Like he was pretty much laying down on a bed. He had both arms behind his head and had his eyes closed now, a few strands of his hair were spread out across his face. We were on a highway now, it was mostly empty now, I guess people were really sleeping in.

"Slow down," Jet randomly grumbles and I press my foot down gently on the break.  
He fixes his seat so he's sitting up properly now and points to my left.

"Make a turn up here."  
As we approach whatever the hell he's pointing at, there's a dirt path that leads off to the side. I felt more nervous (if that's even possible). Just where the hell was he trying to go? What did he want to do? I turn onto the dirt path and slowly creep down the uneven ground.

"Where are we going?"

Jet stays silent and I don't want to take the risk to glance at him with the trees so close. The highway is just a small hole in the forest, and it's quickly eaten up by the trees. My breath hitches in my throat. Maybe Jet is actually a murderer. Maybe he was jsut trying to gain my trust and is finally taking me to the place where he kills, like in the horror movies. Maybe I've fucked up.

"The field."

The field? I've never been to a field out here before. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know there was one. Sure enough though, five minutes later the trees clear up, and a grassy green field is in view. The road dips to the right side of before stopping completely, I pull over there and park the car.

"You did pretty good." Jet pats my back and I feel goosebumps form on my arm. Why did he have such a hot body temperature?

There's a silhouette of a person in the distance. It's been walking towards us for a while, but it's not until Jet gets out of the car that I realize it's Josh. The two do some sort of weird handshake and start talking. Josh's eye wanders over to me, still sitting in the car, and his eyebrows furrow. I climb out of the car.

"What are we doing here?" My voice sounds much smaller than I wanted it to.

Jet shrugs without bothering to so much as glance at me, "Just hanging out."

"Dude, you shouldn't have brought a girl here," Josh's mouth is in a straight line. He isn't too pleased.

Jet just starts walking farther out into the field, like Josh hadn't even said anything. Josh shoots me a look full of worry before sighing and shaking his head, then follows Jet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, school is kicking my ass right now . . .

"Just hanging out" was the wrong phrase to use. I think "being two idiots" was a much better fit. The two started off talking for a bit, and Josh took out some cigarettes and the took sit on the soft earth. I was sitting near them, using my hoodie to cover my nose. I hated the smell of smoke, it was too strong. I didn't say anything while they smoked, but when I moved back away from them a bit Jet looked over and noticed, then rubbed his cigarette into the dirt. Josh noticed and looked back at me, covering my nose. But he looked away and kept smoking, without facing me.  
Then out of nowhere, Josh decided to challenge Jet to a foot race. Jet smirked, and said something about him always being too slow.

"You be the judge kitten, okay?" Jet told me with a wink.

They didn't tell me where they were running too, or how to tell who the winner might be. They just counted down from three to one and both sprinted off. They would reach some end of the field then turn, count again and take off. Josh was slower than Jet, but both of them were fast. Freakishly fast. Like maybe the two would be the best track stars I've ever seen fast. When they were both hunched over and gulping in air, I walked over to them.

"Josh was just a bit slower," I mumble. Jet gives off a wide, toothy smile at me and Josh just glares daggers at both of us.

Then Josh begins walking off.  
"Aw, don't be a sore loser Josh!" Jet yells after him.  
Josh starts running towards the car, but Jet doesn't make a move. He just chuckles. Josh digs around in the trunk of the car, and I flush because I realize that I didn't lock the car doors. He pulls out something brown and I push the lock button once he closes the trunk. The car beeps and Josh starts walking away from it, back to us. When he's a few steps away he flings whatever he's holding. It's flying through the air and I panic when I see that it's coming right towards me. I hold out my arms and fumble it, just barely able to grip it hard enough for it not to slip through. The white lines on the football were starting to fade, the seams on one side were a bit loose.

"Come on Josh, she's not into football." Jet walks beside me and places his hand on the ball.

"And who says I'm not?" I throw a smirk at him, there had to be some way to get to him.

Both Jet and Josh stare at me with wide eyes.

Josh is calling out random numbers I can't comprehend, all I know is when he tosses the ball at me, I was suppose to catch it and run. I knew that there was probably a slim chance of actually winning, with them being so fast. But Josh said to trust him, he had a plan.

"Hike!" Josh yells and I take a few steps back, like how they do on T.V.

I hold my arms out and hope that I can feel for where the ball would land. Jet is already leaving Josh behind, making a beeline towards me. I feel the leather hit my arms and turn to take off. I don't get very far before Josh is to my right suddenly, holding his arms out.

"Ama, throw it here!"

I stare at him for a minute before throwing the football at him, but Jet is there in a flash. Catching the ball in midair. An interception I think they call it? Josh curses loudly and I start running towards Jet's back. I'm surprised that I can keep up with them at all, until I think that they're probably holding back, not running nearly as fast as they were before.

I want to tackle Jet, but his body build is much wider and stronger than mine. I'm sure that I wouldn't make much of an impact on him at all, but I still try. I jump as high as I can and grab onto his back, I lock both my legs around one of his calfs, and he loses balance. Jet starts falling forward and all I see is the world turn sideways, with Josh staring wide-eyes with his mouth hanging open.

Jet grunts when he hits the ground, a soft sound that sounds more like something you would give when you land on your bed after a long day. I . . did it? Jet hurls to his side, and I feel my back hit the ground. Jet's form blocks the sun, he's much too close. I smell something husky, along with spices. Ginger, paprika, pumpkin, peppers. I sigh and Jet has either arm by each side of my head. Jet's hair covers the top of his head, and it feels like it's trapping his eyes to only focus on my face. We're both breathing heavy. I feel the heat coming off of his body hit me like a brick wall, and I'm sure I'll start sweating soon. I look from his neck back to his eyes, and their transfixed on me. We just stare at each other for a long time, speechless. I'm trying to think of something to say, anything to say, to get him off of straddling me. But all I can focus on is him, and those damn red eyes.

"Get a room you two." Josh hurls himself to Jet's side, and the both of them roll to the left.

"I like her, she's got spunk." I raise an eyebrow at Josh but get up and throw myself across his back.

"Dog pile!"

Josh grunts and Jet stays silent. The two squirm a lot. I'm not sure what their doing exactly, but a lot of dirt is thrown. I get up and feel for my phone, making sure it's still there. When the two finally get up, their absolutely filthy.

"You two could use a bath." They both look at me then down at their clothes.

"So could you, kitten."

I look at my jeans. A little dirt never hurt them I guess, it's not a big deal.

"I know a place . . ." Jet has a mischievous smirk.

"Jet no," Josh groans.

Both the guys start walking inside a dark cave. Like pitch black cave. No one has a light. I stand near the entrance. I don't want to snoop around in Yogi Bear's house. Both of them disappear in the darkness, and I'm just standing there, peering into the darkness.

"Amaryllis?!" Jet's booming voice echoes down the cave. It sounds like they're far away, but a second later they're both walking back towards me, confusion on their faces.

"Come on, I'll show you something." I stare at him.

"Come on, **kitten** , scared of the **big bad wolf**?" Josh says in a teasing tone.

I grind my teeth. " _Don't_ call me kitten."

Jet takes my hand so gently I'm taken aback. He walks in front of me, and I just follow silently. I hear Josh grumbling behind me, but I ignore him.  
So here we are, walking in complete darkness with Jet leading the way. Somehow I haven't ran into any rock or tripped over any uneven grounding. Jet is just staring forward like he can actually see something, and I try looking forward. I try to evolve into a higher species and awaken my night-vision, but nothing happens.

There's a soft glow in the distance. At first, I mistook it for some sort of lighting bug, but it grows bigger the closer we get. There are white lines against a wall of rock, which are waving around in small motions. Sharp icicles are hanging from the wall and ceiling, emanating some sort of blue glow. When Jet stops walking, it's not icicles that glow the pale blue, but some sort of crystals. In front of us is a large pool of water, water that's so clear I wondered if it was water at all. It was glowing a slight blue color too, but it was much more of a clear white than blue.  
I can't even think of what to say. I just dumbly stare at the beautiful scenery.

"I guess we should clean up here," Josh has a smirk on his face again and I just roll my eyes.

"Good idea," Jet starts unbuckling his pants, and Josh and I are just staring at him like he's just grown a third arm. He takes off his shirt and throws both off of them into the water, then steps in. I glance over at Josh and see that he's stripping down too. I look down at the dirt and hear a loud splash along with Josh laughing.  
I plant myself into the rocks and am resolved to watching them move. There's a lot of splashing, and the two of them start talking about a lot of random stuff. I'm busy imagining how much certain rocks look like different shapes, but it's much too quiet. I look up and Jet is staring at me, holding his chin up with his hand, propped up on the edge of the water and smirking at me. I furrow my brows in confusion.  
"Scared of water, kitten?"

My lips tighten into a straight line and I stare at him, "Not at all."

"Then come on in, it's not cold."

I stay planted right where I am. Jet chuckles and stands up.

"What is this place anyway?"

Jet frowns a bit, his eyes waver to the water. "This is where we hang around," Josh throws a wide smile at me.

The others? And who might that be? Behind Josh's head, just peeking out shyly from his ear, is the right half of a bra dangling off of a rock. I look back down at my shoes, I couldn't possibly imagine either of them doing such a thing here. I don't even want to think about what happened in here before I came along.

I suddenly wanted to leave.

"Amaryllis," I look up at Jet, his eyes are pleading, "at least wash your clothes."

I twiddle my fingers for a while before pulling off my shoes and stuffing my socks into them. I creep over to the water's edge, looking at my reflection. I'm pulling my mouth into a straight line, trying to make my lips look thinner when the water ripples abstract the view, and Jet's torso slides into my face. I look up at him, he has a small smile, but his hair is shielding his eyes. I couldn't read his expression at all.  
His movements are slow, agonizingly slow. His arms raise up a few inches before stopping by my legs, then resting on my waistline. He's soaking my shirt in all honesty, but I didn't really mind. I took my hoodie off already after the football game, and threw it into Jet's trunk. His fingers wrap around the bottom of the seam, and he lifts my shirt, only enough to expose my stomach. His eyes sweep up to look at my face, a question pauses right on his lips. I bite my lip and raise my arms, my shirt is pulled up over my head. Jet holds it for a moment like he was holding a magic runestone, surprised to have such a thing in his hands. I look down at my thighs, my thighs that were tightly clasped together, not that they ever separated from each other, but they were clenched because of how nervous I was. My stomach fat covered the button of my pants, and the zipper, and I felt myself stop breathing. I wrap both my arms around the bottom of my muffin top. Jet's hands rest on my arms, slowly tugging them with such gentleness I thought maybe he was convinced I would break somehow. He pulls my arms away from my stomach, and I flinch. My eyes close but all I feel is him pulling my jeans, unbuttoning them and zipping them open. I stand on my own and pull them down, flinging them to the side.

I look up and catch Jet staring, I don't bother trying to figure out his expression. Instead I just take a deep breath and jump into the water, soaking my panties and bra. Thankfully, Jet and Josh both have their boxers on.


	9. Chapter 9

**It gets late. There's a cold breeze by now as we leave outside the cave. The stars are out and I wonder if my mother is home yet. I dig in my jeans pocket and see that I;ve got three text messages. Two of which are from Eliza and one from mom. I gulp deeply, but it only reads that she has to work late, and will probably be home after I'm asleep. I hope she's right.**

**I put my phone back in the pocket and sneeze. Goosebumps cover my arm. Josh is clumsily putting his clothes back on, even though they're not fully dry. Jet wraps his arms around me suddenly, and I hunch up.**  
"I'm sorry, I didn't keep track of the time." Who could inside that cave?  
Josh disappears down the path towards the car, leaving me all alone with Jet. Jet engulfed me, covering me with his large arms and chest. We stayed like that for a while, Jet just hugging me from behind. The only sound I hear is Jet breathing softly, his head nuzzles into my neck.

**"You're soft," he mumbles. He sounds like he's on the verge of falling asleep. My legs ache.**

**"You always smell so damn good," Jet mumbles again and I feel the warmth of his breath against my neck now. My face gets really hot.**

**"Amaryllis." I look at Jet through the corner of my eye and see that's he's staring right at me again, his gaze his so intense I feel myself jump.**

**"You're driving me crazy again." Again? something soft hits my stomach and my head snaps forward, Josh is standing there holding a light blue blanket. Another white one is clinging to my bare skin.**

**"Cover up lovebirds, you'll catch cold like that."**

**"Ha. ha. Very funny." While I did find Josh's teasing annoying too, he didn't seem wrong . . .**

**Josh spreads his blanket out on the ground and Jet lets go of me. I copy Josh and spread the white blanket out on the dirt. The two lay on the blankets, and I stare at them both. I hug myself, wishing there was an extra for me when Jet looks at me with a curious face. We both stare for a moment and Josh closes his eyes and rolls over, his back facing towards us.  
Jet suddenly gives a cheshire cat smirk and holds out his arms to the sky, slightly slanted in my direction.**

**"Come here kitten."**

**I poke my lips out and glare at him, but another strong breeze brings my goosebumps crawling back, so I just lay down on the blanket. Jet embraces me again, his arms wrapping around my back, and my face has nowhere to escape to except for his collarbone. The goosebumps die down after only a few minutes, and already I feel like I'm inside my own home. I try to breath through my mouth and not smell the intoxicating scent of spices as I hear a quiet snore come from Jet, matching perfectly in rhythm to the rise and fall of his chest.  
**

* * *

The chirping of crickets is the first thing I hear when I wake up. The second thing is growling, loud and snarling, then another one in response. I open my eyes and see the fireflies dazzling the sky. When I laid down, I could smell the slight scent of wet grass, but now it reeks. The air was pungent with the aroma of rotting food and sweat, maybe something of wet dog. Once my eyes adjusted to the glow of the fireflies, the next thing I see are the whites of the stars. A cool breeze brings the goosebumps back, I shiver and rub them. I turn to my left and just as I thought, Jet is no longer laying next to me. Instead, there are about four wolves in front of me. One has their back towards me, and the other three facing him. The three dogs were equally as large, almost identical, except their eyes were a sickening greenish-yellow. The three are growling at the one facing away, and another snarl is given in return. One of them eyes me, then snarls, showing the whites of it's teeth. I sit up, Josh was missing from his blanket as well.  
The wolf leaps, chomping it's teeth down on one of the other's legs. It makes a strange sound, not quite a bark, and shakes him off with such force he goes flying back and snaps a tree at the base. The crack echos throughout the field, followed by deafening silence. The wolf looks up and glances at me, it's eyes were red. Something about him felt very familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Amaryllis." I look at Jet, all I could really make out was that his back was towards me from his silhouette.

"Take my keys and get out of here."

"What?" I grumble, my voice was still groggy.

"Run!" His voice shakes me, it's loud and commanding and unlike anything I've heard from him. I glance down and grab his car keys laying in the crumpled blanket, the wolves snarl again and pounce towards Jet. Their teeth clench around his right shoulder, and his left ribcage. Jet makes a sound that may or may not indicate pain, but he's still standing with the dogs still clenching their teeth, paws digging into his back.

"Jet!" I yell like an idiot. Jet just turns to me and his eyes are glowing. It's not an exaggeration this time, they're literally glowing. Illuminating the damn darkness like a fucking flashlight. Fear runs through my bones and all I hear is Jet command for me to run again in that same voice, only I was sure he hadn't opened his mouth. It felt like it was more in my head, but I didn't stop to think about it. I stand and force my legs to move, I plunge them forward one after another. I hear the wolves make some sort of barking noise and loud thumping behind me.

'Don't look back, don't look back. Just run!' I tell myself. I stretch my legs as far as I physically could make them go and just hope the car is still where it should be. I press the unlock button and it beeps, the tail lights flashing twice. There it is, right in front of me. I touch the handle of the door, and see yellow from the corner of my eye. A tiny dot that's soaring towards me, almost like a glide. I rip the car door open and dive in, almost slamming it on my calf. I lock the doors and there's a loud slam against the driver's side, strong enough to rock the car that the two wheels on my side lift up into the air and back down again. I scream, my voice too hoarse to really travel anywhere and stick the keys in the ignition. Two of the yellow ones were in front of the car, staring right at me. I yank the stick shift back and pull the car into reverse. There's a loud thump and the car lifts up like I just hit a speed bump way too fast. I push the stick shift back into drive, something furry was in front of the headlights. I don't wait for it to move.

I take the sharpest lft turn out of the woods and back onto the main highway. The two wolves were still following me, the window to my left was cracked when I checked for oncoming cars. Shit. I'm speeding, doing nearly a 100 in an 80-mile lane. I pray the police aren't idly waiting in the sidelines for someone like me to show up, but I'm pretty sure they might be lenient once they see my friends. I check the rearview mirror. Yep. They were keeping up just fine. My fingers are trembling, I want to reach for my cell phone but don't want to take the risk, nor do I have anyone in mind to call. I run a red light.  
There's the unmistakable noise of scratching metal and I feel the back of the car shake. The back window is dark, pitch black. All except for two yellow beads glowing at me. I'm whimpering and feel panic shake over me. What would I do now? As I feel the car swerve too hard the right, the car shakes again and I can see streetlights again. a ball of fur is rolling around behind me, before it keeps still. A wolf leans back and examines the other one, laying limp. I hear an audible sniff as one of them leans into the other, then an ugly ripping sound. Then crunchy, like how one might bite into something hard, before I see red pop out of the darkness and I sigh.

Two more yellow dogs jump out from the sidelines and my friend turns around, then more growling. I turn back around and stomp on the gas.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Happy birthday to me.

Five am. That was the time I woke up this morning and haven't been able to fall asleep since. On a Saturday. A Saturday! Mom entered the house seconds after I stepped into my bedroom and I threw my clothes off. I yelled a greeting as I turned on a shower and switched on the TV, hoping she would just think that I stayed up late watching Netflix. She didn't question me about it, thankfully.

I couldn't figure out why I had woken up so early, just that I wasn't going to fall back asleep anytime soon. I started by watching cartoons, or whatever else was playing that early in the morning. When the sun rose, I took another shower and put on some jogging pants and a t-shirt and started cleaning my room. Then I made breakfast, then sat and read the newspaper. I never read the newspaper, but I wanted to see if there was anything about the incident last night. Nothing. I cleaned up the kitchen and watched the morning news, maybe it would come on. I fell asleep on the news and gave up.  
My eyes wandered outside to the backyard, glancing at Jet's car parked outside. It was badly dented up, with a cracked mirror. I felt shitty about it's current state, but I didn't have any money to fix it. I wondered if mom had saw the car, then waved it off since she didn't bother me last night. But I should hurry and try to move it. I would take it to Jet's house, if I knew where he lived . . . Jet. I hope he's okay. The image of those dogs chomping down on him flash through my mind. I open my phone and send him a text message, the sly motherchucker texted himself from my phone when I ran back inside the house for my keys.

'Hey'

'U ok?'

'Jet?'

'Pls respond.'

'I still need 2 drop ur car off u know.'

'Jet please'

'U can call me kitten if u want' [DRAFT]

I shake my head and set my phone on my bed. I've come to terms with it by now: I was waiting for Jet. I was waiting for a call or text, or something. Eliza hasn't even called yet, and mom ran off to some friend's baby shower. I would try to message Josh, but I didn't have his number. I pull up my contacts list and pull up Liz's number. If she knew Josh well enough that I thought, she would have his number. Mich probably wasn't happy about it, but Liz had guy friends. Quite a few guy friends in fact.  
I'm about to call her when the doorbell rings. I drop my phone to the bed and make a beeline to the front door. I almost trip down the stairs but grip the railing and almost start running. I fumble the lock before jerking the door open. Jet stands before me . . . uninjured. No bite marks, no bruises, not even a scratch. He looks tired.

"Hey kitten," he mumbles.

I can't think of what I want to ask him first, instead I take a step back and open the door wider. Jet walks inside and I close the door, relocking it. We both sit on the couch but neither of us touch the TV remote.

"So . . . what was that last night?"

There's a long pause, then:

"Wolf attack. I reported it to the forest rangers already. They weren't too pleased about a couple of kids messing around there at night, but they were still glad we reported it." He eyes me, giving me a weird look, "Oh yeah, I left your name out of it. Didn't want them to call your mom. It's okay if it's us but civilians are . . ."

I raise an eyebrow, just what the hell was he talking about?

"You're not hurt," I say slowly, cautiously.

Jet looks down at his legs, "Oh yeah, I didn't get beat up too bad, don't worry about it." Hurt and unharmed are two different worlds, Jet.

"How did you get here anyways?"

" . . . Josh dropped me off." I didn't remember a car being near when I opened the door.

"Where is Josh?"

Jet shrugs, "I'm not his keeper." But you do seem to be his best friend, Mr. Suspicious.

I sigh and lean back into the couch, I'm tired of running in circles with him. He was hiding something seriously spooky. The "hey vampires and werewolves actually exist and humans aren't technically supposed to know, but oops ya found out anyway" type of spooky. I get up and walk into the kitchen, picking up Jet's out of the kitchen drawer. I plop them down into his lap.

"Your car's pretty dented up, the wolves followed me for a bit."

Jet doesn't even blink.

"Hey, if you're tired then just head home."

Jet nods, "You're right." His face is stoic though. He grabs his keys and I open the back door for him. I watch him move zombie-like into his car, start it up, then back out into the alleyway.

Something fishy is definitely going on.

"What?" The female voice at the other end of the receiver asks for the second time.

"A report. I'm asking if there was any wolf accidents reported out in the forest lately."

Silence. "Hold on ma'am, allow me to check."

I start tapping my foot as I stare at the map I pulled up of Westwend on my laptop. Wolves weren't particularly present in the area.

"Ma'am?"

"Yes."

"The last reported wolf incident was in 1982, the person was taken to the hospital for a nasty bite."

1982? "And that's the most recent report?"

"Yes ma'am, there are some previous reports as well, but I guess the hunters might've taken care of the wolves after that . . ."

"Thank you so much."

"No problem." There's a prompt beep.

No wolf incident reports since 1982 and they just happen to be hanging around now? Jet isn't getting away from me next time.


	11. Chapter 11

I text Eliza to stop by, as much as I didn't want her to think I've really lost it and need to be checked into a nut house, I needed to talk to someone about this. It's a lazy Sunday morning and Mom is lounging around in the living room in her pajamas. She usually cleans today, but after what happened yesterday, I cleaned up most of the house. All she could do now was wait for the laundry to dry.

Thirty minutes pass before I hear a car pull up to the driveway, I'm already walking towards the door when the bell rings. My mother eyes it but doesn't bother to move.

"So what's up?"

"We gotta talk," I grab her hand and march her upstairs to my room.

"Hey Mrs. J!" Eliza beams.

"Hello Eliza," she doesn't pull away from the TV.

I close my bedroom door and sit on the floor, Eliza plops herself on my bean bag chair. She's been here about a million times.

"What's wrong? You seem nervous . . ." Eliza eyes my closed door.

"Something happened last night . . . something weird."

Eliza rolls her eyes and uses one of her feet to pry off the shoe on her other foot.  
"Don't tell me it's more talk about those . . wolves or whatever."

"Listen, I know it sounds crazy but it  **really**  happened. I'm kinda spooked about it, Liz."

"Fine, let me hear it then."

"So Jet showed up at my house last night and just says we should 'hang out' and drags me out,"

"Wait.  **Jet showed up here to take you out?**  Was he the  _'little problem'_  you had to deal with?"

"Yes, and it was totally weird. He let me drive his car - Josh was there -, saying I need practice and then leads me out to this field or whatever."

"You mean the hideout that Josh and the other goons mess around at?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Yeah . . . how do you know about that place?"

Eliza flushes a deep red, and her voice goes quiet "M-Mich and I might've messed around there a few times . . . "

Ew. But for some reason, something told me Michael wasn't the one who told her about that cave . . . Or maybe she's thinking about a different place completely.

"Yeah, we went in there for a bit and fell asleep out in the field. When I woke up the wolves were there again, except they had yellow eyes - "

"Yellow eyes?"

"Yeah, the first one I saw had red ones. Anyway it shows up and starts fighting the others, and Jet just yells at me to take his car and run.  
They . . ." I gulp deeply, this was the hard part, "They wrecked him pretty badly."

"Wrecked? What do you mean wreck? Wreck is something you use for like a car accident or something, wreck isn't . . ."

"Look, they attacked him pretty bad okay? Enough to know that Jet should be in the hospital. I drove here and parked the car in the back, and Jet just shows up this afternoon, tired but completely fine. Not even a scratch on this boy."

Eliza stares at me for a moment, then looks away and shakes her head.

"Eliza please. If I fuck this up, then you can tell everyone I'm crazy and stop talking to me, but I really need you to help me right now."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Do you know where Josh lives?"

"Yeah, why?"

* * *

Eliza is banging on Josh's door like a madwoman, but it's not like there are any neighbors to hear. Josh lives on a reserve. Why or how I have no idea. I feel itchy being here, like I'm being watched in a place I'm not suppose to be. Eliza pounds her fist on the door for the fifth time, and there is still no answer.

"For fuck's sake! Josh, open the door!"

There's nothing as Eliza huffs out in frustration, then a loud creek as the door slowly opens. Josh stands there, shirtless and rubbing his eyes. He's thrown on some grey jogging pants.

"Morning sunshine, what's got you so riled up?"

"It's noon, and Amaryllis wanted to see you."

" _Moi?_  This isn't good, Jet will be so jealous if you see me and he's not here."

I grind my teeth and hope my face doesn't get warm, "Good, it's better if he's not here anyway."

Josh widens his eyes, but keeps his voice joking, "So what do I owe the pleasure of two beauties visiting my home at this hour?"

Eliza rolls her eyes and pushes Josh to the side, "Outta the way Josh, it's cold out here."

I follow Eliza in suit, and Josh closes the door behind us. It smells like spices. Overwhelmingly so. Eliza plops herself down on the couch like she's lived here all her life, but I reside to sitting in the desk chair across from her. Josh sits on the same couch as Eliza, lining his arms up against the back of it.

"So . . . about last night . . ."

"Hmm? Oh yeah, the wolf attack . . . we already reported it to the rangers, we left your name out of it though."

I bite my lip, don't give me that bullshit story anymore.

"Josh . . . I called into the station, the woman there tells me that there hasn't been an attack since 1982. Not by wolves anyway."

Josh bites his lip and he looks nervous, but he just shrugs it off. "I guess they've migrated or something."

"Josh please. Can you really say it was just an animal attack? That wasn't normal and you know it." I search his face but he only looks down at the floor.

"Tch, don't waste your time anymore, Ama. Josh will give everyone the run around."

" . . . You two seem close. You've never mentioned Josh before Eliza."

Eliza looks away, "W-well, we were cool and all . . . We're cool with the same people after all . . ."

"Look Amryllis, what happened back there was freaky, I know. But it was only an accident and I'm sorry it happened . . ."

There had to be something else to make him tell me the truth. Something. Anything!

Josh stands and rests a hand on my shoulder, "Maybe it's just best if we didn't hang anymore, yeah? I'll stay out of your hair from now on."

"Oh yeah Josh, just run away from all your problems like you always do," Eliza scoffs.

"Josh, I know what I saw and it wasn't normal. An accident maybe, but it wasn't just your typical animal attack. Those weren't just some wolves hiding out in the trees."

Josh doesn't say anything and Eliza stands. "It's no use. Come on Ama, let's go. I don't wanna waste any more time here."

Eliza grabs my hand and drags me into her car, then pulls off.

"Jeez, that guy . . . why didn't you tell me you started hanging out with  **him**?"

"He's close to Jet so he's around a lot, we're not that close . . . Are you sure you guys are just friends? It seems like . . ."

"Look, Josh and I used to be friends, but we're not anymore. We talk a bit when our friends are around and nothing else. That's all there is to it."

With that we ride the rest of the way in silence.


	12. Chapter 12

After spending hours at the mall, Eliza drops me back at home. I was only half paying attention the whole time. I was honestly fresh out of ideas. Jet and Josh are both in on something and that something is weird. Like mythical creatures weird. If I could figure out what those . . . things are, it would definitely help.  
I wave goodbye to Eliza and head inside. I head up to my room and sit on my bed. What the hell was I even doing? I have no reason to get involved. Josh's words do have some sense to them, cutting ties with them would be a good measure to stop the weirdness.

I pick up my phone and call Jet, but it sends me to voicemail.

"Josh, it's Amaryllis. I know what happened wasn't an accident, but if you don't want to tell me the truth then that's fine. . . . Josh told me that it might be better to leave you two alone and I think . . . I think he's right." I stay quiet for a long time, trying to think of more to say, but then there's a long beep.

"Press one if you'd like to save your message. Press two if - " I hang up.

I ask my mom to drop me off tomorrow at school.

"What about your boyfriend? Are you two having a fight?"

"He's not my boyfriend mom. He never was."

I'm sitting in first period class much too early, the school is still rather empty and the teacher went to the teacher's lounge. There are two other kids here, one frantically scribbling their homework down and the other checking out their Snapchat. I pull out my library book, I was only a few chapters away from being done. I kept renewing it, but I guess Jet pulled me away from it. It was a romance novel about a human girl being with a werewolf. She's 23 and a waitress at a cafe, and he's some college student. Their both living in and empty town with nothing to do, so it goes without saying that they find interest in one another when they start their friendship. The woman had already found out about the werewolf thing, except her guy and another werewolf both fell in love with her but hated each other. It was so much so that they were fighting everyday, blinded by bloodlust. I'm sure I hit the "final showdown" of the novel when I stopped reading it. I crack it open and devour it until the first period bell rings.

When I put my book away, Jet is already in the classroom (along with everyone else). He was sitting in his usual spot next to me, except he was focused on whatever was outside through the window. He's like that the rest of the morning. By third period Jet looks like he's about to break down, he's frowning really hard and his eyes look watery. I open my mouth to say something, but just close it immediately and sit down. I don't look at him for the rest of the period. I don't say anything to him, I don't think about him. When the bell rings, I stand and walk towards the door, being the last one out like always.

"Amaryllis," I hear Jet right behind me in the hallway, his voice is gentle and pleading.

I ignore him and keep walking.

For a while, it was difficult. Sometimes I would run into Jet at lunch, or in the hallway, and he would have a really sad look. Sometimes his lips would part like he wanted to say something, but only close again and we would both ignore each other. Before I knew it, Jet was swallowed up by the popular crowd, with the football players and girls swooning over him. Maybe it was always like that, or maybe Jet made sure to keep his interactions with them to a minimal. But then it's normal. There aren't anymore wolves or dogs or howling or snarling or red eyes. But there also isn't anymore Josh or Jet. There aren't anymore hot car rides home or the scent of spices. There aren't any more comfortable silences or Jet knowing what to say and when to say it, or the timely annoyances of calling me kitten.

My chest tightens when I think about it, but it's not like Jet and I are that close anyway. We haven't even done anything but hang out. But for some reason, it still stings, just a little bit.

I'm awoken by a soft rumbling sound. I grumbled something inaudible and look at my nightstand. My phone was lighting up and vibrating. I grab it and stare but it suddenly calms down. The glaring screen tells me that it's one am, and I have five text messages and two voicemails all from an unknown number. Normally I would brush it off, but instead my fingers are unlocking the phone and dialing my voicemail. The first voice I hear is Josh:

"Amaryllis, it's Josh." There's a deep sigh, "Look it's about Jet . . . I know I told you to keep away from us, and it was stupid. But look, the guy's a wreck. He's not eating much and he never leaves the house anymore, I've tried talking to him but he doesn't even look at me." There's a long pause, "Just . . . just talk to him okay? Stop by or something . . . I'm worried about him." There's a beep and the second voicemail is also from him, but I don't bother listening to it. I save Josh's number and set my phone down in my lap.  
It's been three weeks since I cut ties with those two, and even still I can't get away from them. Jet Ayres was my recurring nightmare. I rub my eyes and a loud thump makes me jump. I wait a moment and it happens again, then a third time. The drapes fly back and I hear a cracking sound that makes me cringe. I go to the window and look at my reflection that splits into many parts. How the hell was I going to explain this? What even is this?! something black appears in front of my, and more cracks are gliding across the glass. In the distance, something furry lands in the grass at the front lawn. I lift up the glass and it pauses.

"Go away Jet!" I freeze and the cold air from the outside hits me. I have no idea why I screamed Jet's name at that thing, but it just came out. I blink and in that instance the thing is gone. Relief washes over me and I close the window, turn away. More thumping. This time it sounds like someone rushing up the stairs, and I feel paralyzed. I flashback to all the times my mother stomped up those stairs and promptly handed my ass to me. My ears are destroyed by the sound of glass shattering, and I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head. All my senses are out, I feel myself falling in slow motion as I stare at my door break off it's hinges. Jet bursts through the darkness and his eyes are glowing that meanancing crimson.

"Amaryllis!"

My head makes contact with the floor and everything turns black.


	13. Chapter 13

There's a ringing sound as the horizon splits to show whiteness. Maybe this is my final curtain, the harps are playing for me as I come home. The room darkens and there's a dim yellow flickering against a white wall.

"You're finally starting to wake up," a soft voice is good to my ears. It's wavering, like someone with many years under their belt and female. I turn my head but only move it a few inches before the sharp pain comes back, there's something tight wrapped around my forehead.

"Try not to move too much dear, your head trauma is nothing to blink at."

There's an old woman sitting at my side. She has many wrinkled across her face and the purest white hair I've ever seen. Her eyes are dark but as wide as the ocean. She gives me a smile that tells me she's lived a very happy life.

"Where . . . where am I?" My voice cracks like a prepubescent teen boy.

"Somewhere safe . . . don't push yourself."

"What happened to me?"

The old woman stares at me for a moment, and starts to open her mouth, but I hear a swoosh of metal, like a curtain being pulled back.

"How is she?"

"She's fine, but very fragile." What a strange choice of words to use.

Jet is by my other side immediately, and I feel his warm hands wrap around mine.  
"I'm sorry Ama, I really am. I tried stay away from you, I tried to leave you alone but . . . but they wouldn't let me."

"But you couldn't stay away," the old woman says in a corrective tone.

"Jet, I don't want to see you anymore. Those things always pop up whenever you're around, so unless you want to explain something to me, I don't want to have anything to do with you."

Jet's face twists into pain. There's a deep frown etched onto his mouth, and his eyebrows furrow upward. He plays with his bottom lip, trying to decide on something. I look up at the ceiling.

"Oh don't be so rough with him dear, the pain of one-side love for those who imprint is pain enough for eternity," the old woman is smiling despite her words. She heaves herself up with a grunt, and grips an old wooden cane, then slowly drifts from my field of vision.

"Amryllis, please. Forgive me, it's my fault."

I lift my head from the pillow and then turn it to him, the pain is much more bearable that way.  
"Give me answers, Jet. What happened last night? And the night out in the field? What are those things that I keep seeing whenever you're around?"

"Kitten please, I really can't tell you."

"Don't fucking 'kitten' me, Jet! Not if you're going to keep hiding this shit!" Even though I'm yelling, it's too hoarse to even travel outside of the room.

Jet sighs deeply and there's a lot of silence, I look up at the ceiling and sigh too.

"I'm just . . . I'm just tired Jet. Just leave me alone, okay?"

"Their called hell hounds."

I turn my head at him, eyes wide with shock, "What?"

"The things that attacked you. They're hell hounds."

Hell hounds. Hell hounds. Not wolves, not werebeasts, *hell hounds*. I'm at the point where anything makes more sense than what they've been giving me, it's almost believable.

"They're the devil's dogs, you could say. Their job is to either protect something or hunt someone down."

"Let me guess, they have super speed and a ridiculous amount of inhumane strength."

Jet bites his lip and looks at my leg. "They like to hang out in graveyards or other burial grounds. Some legends say seeing them in person or hearing them growl is a bad omen or even a death warning."

"Mangled black hair, and haunting red or yellow eyes. Sometimes it looks like they have a ghostly aura around them."

"You're way too observant," Jet mumbles.

"So is the bad omen thing a lie?"

Jet shrugs, "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. People make the weirdest connections, who knows if they were actually onto something or not . . ."

"Someone's after you Amryllis, someone I wish I didn't know. They attacked you back at the field, and they attacked you again last night. I thought they would stop if I left you alone, but it didn't work."

"Jet." I whisper and wait for him to look at me, when he does I stare him right in the eyes, "Are you a hell hound?" Of course I already know the answer.  
Jet stares at me for a long time before breaking the gaze, then quickly stands up.

"Get some rest, Ama."


	14. Chapter 14

The next day I'm walking around freely. I still feel a bit lightheaded but it's much better than yesterday. All I do is wander around until I find the bathroom, I've discovered three bedrooms while I was left alone. I had no idea where Jet or the old woman went to. Two of the rooms were very messy, only one of which smelled like feet. The other was pumpkin spice. The third room was neat and clean like a hotel, and it smelled of clean linen.  
My phone tells me that it's high noon and my stomach growls loudly, but I get up to go to the bathroom first. I hoped someone would be in the kitchen that I could talk to, I couldn't go rummaging around.

"Jet, this imprint bullshit is getting out of hand," a hushed voice comes from the other room. I duck behind the light back into the hallway, the bathroom open to my left.

"You know better than I do that I can't control it," Jet says slightly mockingly.

"I know, but Amaryllis is gonna end up dead if you don't fix this."

"You mean push her away like you did?"

"Exactly like you're doing now, Ama isn't too happy with you Jet."

Josh sighs, "Amaryllis is one thing, but you know those other guys are a bigger problem."

"Yeah, I got it. Look, Ama won't bother us anymore, I'll handle it. It's about time we stopped this rivalry thing." There's just silence after that.

There's an approaching sound of wood tapping against something, and I spin around to see the old woman. She pauses and smiles at me, "I thought you might be hungry dear."

I start eating the food she prepared me as we sit outside. I'm half playing with it. The backyard is amazing. There's another field behind them, except the green grass is so tall if I laid down you wouldn't be able to see me at all. There are red dots scattered all around the open land, and something tells me that they aren't roses, they have something to do with my name.

"Jet talks a lot about you Amaryllis, you must be something special."

I look up at her in shock, "N-not really, I'm painfully boring."

" . . . I sense something different about you, but maybe only time will tell."

There's silence as I stare at the wooden tabletop.

"You're restless, what ails you dear?"

I nibble my lip a bit, "What is this . . . "imprint" thing exactly?"

The old woman's eyes go wide before she closes them. For a moment I believe she's asleep, but then she chuckles.

"it's the equivalent of finding your soulmate."

"Soulmate?"

"Your perfect match, whether you want it or not. It's something within that forces you to be helplessly in love with someone, and you can't help it."

"And Jet chose me?"

"You don't choose honey, fate chooses for you. You don't help who you've fallen in love with."

How intense. Although I don't easily grasp the concept, the old woman has a look on her face that says she's felt this before. There's a wide smile on her face and a faraway look as she stares out into the warm sunlight, then sighs.

"Be patient with those two, they've always been a bit rowdy."

"Those other . . . hell hounds. Jet mentioned something about a rivalry. Is it . . ."

The old woman frowns deeply and shakes her head, "There apart of another family. Distant cousins of ours, that grudge has been going on for *centuries*, it's all nonsense our ancestors have kept up."

I'm curious to know more, but something tells me no one knows why they're fighting anymore. There are loud thumping footsteps and Jet is standing in the doorway with Josh.

"Are you okay, Ama?" Jet still looks concerned, his hair is unkempt, black strands scattered all around his head.

"I'm fine, just a little lightheaded." Jet sighs and the old woman heaves herself up and heads inside.

"I need to talk to you." I stare Josh right in the eye, "Both of you."

Josh moves first, sitting down across from me, and Jet follows suit.

"There's no need to lie anymore. I think I've figured everything out."

Jet smirks and for the first time in a while, he seems amused, "And what have you figured out kitten?"

"The two of you are hell hounds. I don't know how you came about, but you are. Your 'distant cousins' are holding a grudge that has been around for generations, and they're the ones that keep attacking." Jet also has an imprint on me, I think, but it's not a pressing matter.

Josh looks a bit nervous but Jet is still smirking, "Congrats kitten. Now do you see why you can't be around us anymore? It's too dangerous for a normal human."

I don't say anything for a while. Josh slowly smirks at me, "Let me guess: 'you want to, but you just can't stay away', right?"

I push my chair back and stand up, "I should head home."


	15. Chapter 15

Thanksgiving break is god's grace. I've had two full days of complete peace, sleeping in wonderful silent bliss. After enduring another week at Westwend high with an agonizing headache, the silence was good to my ears. Sleeping dulled the pain to a low buzz. While my headache was gone while I was awake, when I was asleep another headache returned to me. I couldn't remove Jet from my dreams. Although I succeeded in avoiding him in real life, in my dreams he was everywhere and I was hypersensitive to him. His smell intensified by ten-fold, as well as his body heat and those damn eyes of his. Sometimes it was normal stuff, like seeing him in the hallway, or sitting next to me in class, or burning up in his car on the way home. There was only one that refused to go away, it's the day we were out in the field. Jet's hugging me and all I see are the fireflies trying to outshine the stars.    
  
I roll up in the middle of the night from my bed. Enough of him, I needed something else to do besides sleep all day. I pull my laptop into my lap and type 'hell hounds' into the search bar. Everything Jet and Josh told me was popping up: superhuman speed and strength, sightings only in burial sites, black mangled hair and haunting yellow or red eyes, sometimes a ghostly glow surrounding them . . . Hell hounds usually hunt other beings down to kill, or protect something and they treat both with such determination that they won't stop pursuing that mission unless they’re killed or it's called off by their master. Master? It was possible for hell hounds to be tamed, but it's usually ridiculously hard to, it can only be done by a being stronger than them (which was few that existed). I close my laptop after gathering this much information into my head, I didn't want to go on to imagine what it took to kill a hell hound. I didn't want to imagine what could happen to Josh, or even . . .    
  
I power off my laptop and rub my eyes, the doorbell echoes down through the house. I tilt my head, mom doesn't usually ring the door this late at night, she never wants to wake me up. It rings a second time and I throw off my sheets and walk down the stairs.


	16. Chapter 16

The doorbell rings a third time and I think about yelling that I'm coming. Instead, I stomp loudly down the steps and grab the doorknob. I yank the front door open and flick the front light on, Mom wasn't home yet. She always turned on the porch light when she got home at night.

Standing before me is a blonde girl with a dark green coat. It's short and tight, she doesn't have on any hat or scarf or gloves. She's smiling wide with her hands in her coat pocket. Her eyes are a haunting yellow, her pupils silted into a skinny crescent.

"Um . . .?"

"Amaryllis Jones, nice to finally meet you," the girl says in a sweet voice.

For a long while, I had nothing to say. This strange girl was at my door in the middle of the night. I tried to remember if she went to my school, and even if she did, there was no explanation as to why she knew where I lived. The girl steps forward, staring at me for a moment before I feel a sharp pain in my neck, and I fall asleep again.

 

There's the loud crackling of a fire and some shuffling of feet before my eyes slowly open. I feel the ache of my body before I feel the ropes binding them. I'm strapped against a large pole, my arms bound behind my back, my feet tied together.

 

"Ah, she's finally woken up," a female voice says. Once I'm adjusted to the glow of the fire, the girl from before is sitting on a log across from me. She's snuggled up to some boy, he has dark hair, a corner of his head is shaved. His eyes are the same yellow as hers, but something told me that they're not related. The boy's arm was around her shoulders, her head resting against his chest.

 

"Good, Jet should be here soon," the boy separates from his lover and leans forward.

 

"Nothing against ya sweetie, just need to settle a score with Jet."

 

A score to settle? Jet never mentioned any enemies before. I remember the conversation I had with the old woman about their distant cousins, the ones with the rivalry for centuries.

 

"If this is about that rivalry, you should let it go."

 

The boy's face furrows and he snarls at me, I flinch away. I'm way too tired of hearing those vicious snarls and bark. "It's not something a  **human** like you would understand," he practically spits at me.

 

The blonde holds his arm, "Christopher, save your energy."

 

He pauses for a moment before sitting back down, then looks to the left, "Asher, shut her up for me, yeah?"

 

A boy I haven't noticed before stands up. He has long black messy hair, the bangs covering his eyes. He had a harsh aura around him, like he might be hard to talk to. Something told me to leave him alone. 

 

When he came closer, I could see the blues of his eyes through his hair, and suddenly wondered what he was. Hell hounds usually had yellow or red eyes. He ties a cloth around my mouth, not very tight, but it wasn't like I could hope it would just fall off either.

 

Asher returns to his seat and fixes his gaze on the ground. There's nothing for a bit but the crackle or the fire and the chirp of the crickets. I stare into a fire to avoid looking at the couple sucking face. Why does this always happen to me? I wondered if Asher felt just as awkward as I did, but then again, a part of me was getting used to this. Asher's shoes mix the dirt around for awhile from my peripheral.

 

For a moment, I wonder if my anxiety is actually building, or if I'm just feeling like an idiot. Then, there's a growl from behind me. Christopher jumps up, excitement filling his eyes. The girl beside him stands up as well, her teeth noticeably sharper than before. I smell pinecone before I see Jet in the corner of my eye. Josh is already tense behind him, hunched low with his feet spread apart. His eyes are hungry, his nails ready to dig into something.

 

Jet glances at me and for a split second he looks like his face is tearing apart. There's pain glinting in his pupils and his eyebrows are deeply furrowed. I've never seen a face like that without any physical pain attached to it. But in the next moment it's gone, just as quick as it came.

 

"Let her go, Chris. We don't need to get any humans involved."

 

"Cut the shit, Jet! I know you love this girl, and taking her was the only way to bring your sorry tail over here!"

 

Josh snarls and the sound nearly snaps my eardrums. His patience is almost depleted.

 

"We'll settle this without her, just let her go."

 

Christopher chuckles softly, rubbing his forehead before looking back up at Jet. "You just don't get it Jet . . . . Here I'll make it easy for you: I'll even set her head beside yours on the mantle."

 

Jet opens his mouth but Josh is at Christopher's throat in a flash. I'm barely able to take in Christopher's transformation, there's just a ripping sound and giant furballs moving around each other. Jet lunges for me, but the girlfriend is quicker to stop him. It seems like strength is on her side, because she's keeping Jet down pretty well. Christopher pauses and looks at her, snarling something, and she backs off. I give up on trying to understand what's going on between them now that they've turned. Instead, I focus my attention on loosening the ropes around me. I'm able to wiggle them down to my fingertips before something hard and cold clasped around them.

 

"I'm sorry," a voice whispers. Asher?

 

"Please," my voice is weak. I feel Asher's fingers tremble against mine, something tells me that he doesn't want to do this. He seems gentle.

 

Silence. "You don't know what they'll do to me if I let you go," his voice was barely a whisper. I didn't understand what he meant, I assumed he had superhuman strength being a hell hound, but maybe there were unspoken rules.

 

"I-I'll . . . I'll protect you. Come with us."

 

". . . ."

 

"Asher, please."

 

I felt the ropes release. "I can't."

 

More snarling, a hound with lighter fur flashes above me. It lunges straight onto Asher and he changes just as quickly as the others. There's a crunching sound that I flinch at, and there's blood pouring down Asher's shoulder. I couldn't tell until I saw the dark liquid flow down his dark brown fur. For a long moment, the two face off for a bit, encircling each other. The blonde from before is growling, while Asher just watches attentively, cautiously.

 

As much as I knew Jet wanted me to run away somewhere safe, I couldn't. I told Asher I would protect him if he let me go, something told me if I left now, he would probably die. I grab the edge of firewood, a nice thick stick that was more or less sturdy. I didn't think too much, just picked it up and moved towards the girl. Asher had stopped moving and she was cornering him, or at least she thought she was. I was two hundred percent sure she would hear me before I got too close, but I was desperate. I swing with all the strength I can muster, hoping that the stick was long enough to hit her. I hear a loud crack, and the impact of something hard stop my swing. I drop the stick and instantly move back. The hound whimpers once, shakes her head, before turning and pointing her newfound rage at me.

 

_ 'It's what you get,'  _ I think.

 

Another fur ball jumps in between me and her. I couldn't tell if Josh was injured or not, but he took blondie on anyway. Asher rushes around them. Instinctively, I jump onto his back and cling to his fur, gripping as tightly as I could. If he wasn't a fighter the boy sure could run, and run fast. I adjusted myself slowly, intimidated by the wind whipping in my ears. I got myself to a position where I was holding my arms around his neck and straddling his back. I turn back to see beads, tiny beads glaring back at me with the most intensity I've seen so far. In that instant, I was sure that this hound was going to drag me down to the depths it crawled out of. But I also knew Jet better than anyone else right now.

 

"It's okay," I tried to scream. My voice was hoarse, wispy, maybe not even audible at the speed we were going over the rush of wind.

 

"It's okay," I kept trying. "It's okay! It's okay! Asher's going to help me!"

 

Jet doesn't stop. He doesn't slow down either. "Jet please. He let me go and I helped him get away from the girlfriend. He's cool."

 

Tears welled in my eyes, maybe it was about time that the situation hit me. I could feel myself getting overwhelmed suddenly. By everything. Everything since the day I met Jet, all the crazy attacks and fighting, all these damn problems and dog demons. A part of me was hoping I could wake up and all of this would be a dream, but another part of me already knows the truth. The part I was still too embarrassed to say out loud, the truth I couldn't say to Jet just yet.

 

I was fully and hopelessly in love with Jet Aryes.

 

"Please. Just trust me." I was crying now, my voice cracking and the lump on my throat had already formed. I was sure Jet couldn't even hear me, but through my blurred vision I see his silhouette grow smaller and smaller. Another one quickly appears, morphing with Jet's. I turn and plant my face into Asher's fur, hoping that the softness will dry my tears. And I cry. I cry so hard I'm whimpering, crying like I'm a little girl again. Somewhere between my tears I inhale a pine cone scent like a drug, sniffing it as hard as I can between my hiccups. And I fall asleep to that pine cone.


	17. Chapter 17

I’m bundled up in Jet’s car. We’re heading out to his Uncle’s old cabin in Wisconsin. It was quite the road trip. Eliza and Josh are in the backseat, Eliza has been absorbed into her phone since we started. She’s been off ever since spring break started, her and Michael broke it off. She doesn’t leave the house much, or dress up anymore. She wears makeup sometimes, but not nearly as much as she did before.

 

“What do I have to get dolled up for? Mich isn’t around . . .” My heart strained for her. Eliza still hasn’t told me about the breakup, but I didn’t want to push her. All I noticed was that they weren’t hanging around each other anymore, and when I asked, she told me they broke up. That was it. Eliza told me she was fine, but she’s definitely been keeping her distance.

 

Josh has been grumpy ever since we began talking about a trip. It was Jet’s idea, he wanted to lay low. He wanted to hide out until the tension was over about Christopher’s death. When I asked Jet how long it would take for his death to be forgotten, he shrugged. 

_ ‘Years, maybe,’ _ was the first thought that came to mind. I asked to include Eliza on the trip because I didn’t want to leave her alone, the last thing she needed was additional loneliness. Christopher’s death began investigation in December, they visited my house several times during Christmas break. The case was put under private investigation in January by Christopher’s family, they suddenly didn’t want the case being publicized at all. Jet told me about his funeral, at least from what his family told him. He said he would never show up at his funeral, not unless he wanted to start another fight.

 

There was still his girlfriend. Jet didn’t describe exactly what happened, like if he actually killed Chris with his own hands or not, but he did tell me that the girlfriend got away. Asher was with us now. He stayed with me in my room that night until Jet showed up, then left. He had his own place deep in the woods, deep enough that overgrowth kept the forest rangers away. Asher transferred to Westwend High shortly afterwards, and we kept close watch of him. He drove behind us in his own pickup, a rusty red one that desperately needed a paint job.

 

It took hell to convince my Mom to let me go. She wasn’t too keen on my going away for the summer with some boy, even if I liked him. But I told her Eliza would be there, and we were going to his Uncle’s cabin. His Aunt was also there, she was good at cooking and made sure to keep the boys in check. 

That part was a lie, his Uncle was bitterly divorced. His wife took off for California with her new boyfriend in 2001, I guess he never really got over it. The cottage was also somewhat of a summer home, Jet’s Uncle didn’t bother heading down to it anyway, especially since Josh and Jet head down there every other summer.

 

But she agreed, as long as I called in as much as possible. I gave her the old woman’s home number, Jet told her to pose as his Aunt. If anything was to happen, she could say that the phone line was bad out there. The old woman didn’t ask any questions, but her face was filled with suspicion. According to her, this wasn’t the first time the males in the family seeked refuge in that cottage.

 

We left early Saturday morning, right after the last day of school. The sun wasn’t up when Jet called. I told him to call me instead of ringing the doorbell, so he wouldn’t wake up my Mom, she knew we would leave out early. Josh was in the backseat with his arms crossed, his head tilted back in a way that would surely leave his neck sore. Eliza was rubbing her thumb on her phone, staring out the window. I climbed in and the heat was blowing loudly, it was the first time I actually felt it. Jet packed my bags into the trunk and climbed in, then turned down the heat. We left in silence. I peeled off my jacket and watched the windows fog up. I was secretly glad I dressed lightly in Jet’s sauna of a car. I leaned my head against the window, feeling the cold against my cheek.

Somewhere along the way I took off my shoes and pulled my legs up onto the seat, holding my legs to my chest. I had eaten through a small bag of Doritos before Josh ate them all. In the rearview mirror, Josh was still asleep and Eliza had her headphones on, Jet’s radio told me that it was about ten o’clock. The highway was isolated, I fidgeted as I glanced at Jet, his eyes had been set on the road since forever, he hasn’t said a single word yet. His grip on the wheel was tight.

 

“Hey Jet,” I mumbled. He blinks a few times.

 

“Yeah, kitten?”

 

“Tell me about yourself.”

 

He chuckles, it’s a nice feeling compared to the silence.

 

“Well, my name is Jet Ayres. I’m 6’2”. I like long, romantic walks on the beach and cute girls with red hair.”

 

My face warms up, “That’s not what I meant. I mean that there’s not much I know about you.”

 

Jet shrugs. “I’m not that interesting.”

 

“You’re a demon dog!”

 

Jet bites his lip for a bit. “. . . I moved into this town when I was young. Like five or six, We moved in with Gramps before he passed because it was safer here. He had that reserve, you know?”

 

“Were you guys running from something?”

 

“Kind of. My parents just wanted to be free, they didn’t want a demon making me their pet.”

 

Oh yeah. I’d almost forgotten that powerful demons can tame hell hounds.

 

“So does this mean . . . that you were born in . . . in hell?”

 

Jet chuckles, then slowly grows into a laugh. It’s a hearty laugh, one that adds a few more years onto his life, just a few.

 

“Yeah, something like that. Me and Josh were both born there, we became friends.”

 

“What’s it like?”

 

Jet chuckles again, but this time I feel the irk pinch at my chest.

 

“I can’t tell you that, kitten. It wouldn’t be fair.”

 

Jet turns his head and looks at me for the first time today, “How many people do you think are secretly curious on what hell’s like?”

 

I give a slight frustrated sigh, “What? You can tell me, you know my lips are sealed.”

 

He smiles and shakes his head, “I can’t, Amaryllis. It’s the rules.”

 

“Rules? There are rules in hell? You actually follow rules?”

 

“Yeah there are rules in hell. And you can choose to follow them or not, just like in the human realm, but you’ll be punished if you don’t.”

 

“What kind of punishments?”

 

“Curiosity killed the cat, kitten.”

 

“-But satisfaction brought it back,” I say with a smirk. I remembered all the times I’ve said it as a little girl. I wasn’t exactly a curious gal, but when I was, I always asked too many damn questions.

 

“Are we there yet?” Josh suddenly groans, his voice still groggy.

 

“No. You know this trip is going to take a few days.”

 

Josh groans again, then rubs his eyes. “Pull over, let the girls stretch their legs.”

 

Jet pulls into a rest stop and Asher follows us. I felt bad for him, riding alone like that. He stuffed some of our bags into his truck, and didn’t say anything afterwards. The boys were a bit cold to him, but he seemed to take it anyway. I wanted to know why he was with Christopher, despite not wanting to. It’s not like most hell hounds had masters.

 

“Wake up,  _ Ms. Sunshine _ ,” Josh says in a teasing tone while nudging Eliza.

 

Eliza groans before sighing and sitting up straight. She stretches, then pops the door open and gets out. Josh gets out as well, with me right behind him. Asher stands by his car, lighting a cigarette. Jet takes out a cigarette but catches my eye and tucks it back into his pocket. Instead he pulls out some gum and chews on it. Eliza breaths in deeply, then checks her phone.

 

“Can’t you do something other than stare at your phone?” Josh snatches it from her hands, and Eliza gets angry.

 

“Give it back, ass wipe!”

 

“You’ll have to catch me for it!” Josh takes off, granted, not nearly as fast as he could, and Eliza chases after him into the field behind the restrooms. The area was very scenic, lots of trees and green grass growing around the edges.

 

I walk over to Asher and set both arms on the top of his car. We were both watching the empty field laid out in front of us. I stayed silent next to him for a while, I hadn’t thought of anything to say. Or at least, I haven’t found a way to ease into what I really wanted to ask.

 

“I didn’t want to kidnap you . .  I didn’t want to be Chris’s lackey either.”

 

I look at him, surprised by how gentle his voice sounded. For whatever reason, I couldn’t recall if his voice sounded this way that night so long ago. Asher usually had a strong voice when I talked to him at school, as rare as it was.

 

“Then, why did you?”

 

He turns a silver lighter over in his fingers, one with a floral design at the top. “I’m an Omega, you know? Chris was hell bent on starting  **his own** pack with  **his** girl, and they forced me in. I was fucked from the start, Omegas don’t go against Alphas.”

 

I stared at him for a long moment. The thought never crossed my mind, hell hounds having packs and what not. But they are still dogs after all.

 

“So you were forced into his pack?”

 

“Mm. I’m not much of a fighter, but you probably already know that.” Asher’s face drops, his mouth slides into a frown.

 

“It’s okay. I think I like you better that way.” He looks at me, slightly shocked.

 

I felt my chest tighten, “N-not like I know a whole lot about you! I-i-it just seems to fit you. I think you’re stronger that way. U-um . . .” I tugged at the bottom of my shirt. I sound like a complete idiot right now. I glanced down at his tires, completely feeling ready for his anger. I fully expected him to say how I knew nothing about him, I was just a stranger looking in. I certainly was only saying those things because he saved me. After all, Asher was no angel.

 

Instead I hear him chuckle. “Yeah,” he mumbled. We were both quiet after that.

 

Eventually, Eliza and Josh return. Josh has her slung over his shoulder, his arm around her back and his other hand resting on her thigh. Eliza is thrashing, kicking him pretty hard in the chest and pounding her fists on his back. Josh takes it just fine. In fact, he’s even smirking. I wonder what they did to get so riled up? He carries her all the way back to the car, Josh pushes her iPhone into her back pocket and sets her inside the car. Jet jogs back to the car, climbing in right behind them.

I turn back to Asher, he throws the butt of his cigarette into the asphalt and rubs it in with the tip of his shoe. He yanks open his car door and climbs in, but stares up at me curiously since I still haven’t moved.

 

“I-I can ride with you, you know. Like, if you want some company.”

 

His eyes dart past my shoulder, and he’s looking through me. He chuckles, “It’s alright. I don’t think your boyfriend is too happy about you keeping your kidnapper around anyway . .  and you shouldn’t either.”

 

“You weren’t the one that kidnapped me exactly.”

 

He shakes his head and starts up his car, “Get going, sunshine. Hell has its grip on me for a reason.”

 

I huff, and turn back to Asher’s car. Omegas like him shouldn’t try to act so tough.


	18. Chapter 18

Eliza’s POV

 

I throw my bag onto the bed. Jet’s cottage was nice. Quaint. I put my phone on silent and stuff it into my bag. I needed to stop. Whatever Michael posts on Instagram means nothing to me, I had to stop checking. I sigh and rub my neck. The room only had a single bed, a queen size. The sheets were brown with some sort of floral print on the other side. There was a nightstand with a lamp on the right side of the bed, the left side was near the window. Across from the bed was a TV on a stand, with a vanity mirror and dresser next to it. One wall had a slide closet, and a single light was on the ceiling. The walls were crème and it smelled like woodfire.

 

I start unpacking and hang things up in the closet. Footsteps echo down the hallway before stopping near the door and a soft thump. Josh is standing in the doorway, looking at me. I sneer at him and turn back around.

 

“Aw, don’t be so cold sweetheart.”

 

For two months I’ll be sharing a room with this bozo. It grinds my gears, but there are only three rooms. Jet and Amaryllis get the master bedroom, Josh and I get the second bedroom, and Asher the guest room. I asked why Amaryllis and I don’t share a room, and Jet and Josh hightail it in this hotel room, but Josh made a big fuss about sharing a room with Jet. He didn’t want a big burly guy taking up all the damn room in the bed, nor did he want to smell his teen must. Ama agreed just to appease everyone, but I’m still a bit ticked.

 

“The last thing I need is trapped in a room with you for a whole summer.”

 

“You had no problem with it last time,” Josh smirks at me.

 

“ **Last time** was a long time ago. I was young and dumb. And still single if you didn’t recall.”

 

“You’re single now. Aren’t you sweetheart?”

 

I bite my lip and look down. It was painful. I can’t believe I acted like such an idiot with Mich, going to graveyards, learning how to cook, giving away my body to him. I only did it because I thought he would like it.

 

“L-look, I didn’t mean to upset ya . . . How are you Liz? You takin’ this breakup hard?”

 

“I’m fine. It’s none of your business.” I toss my shirt onto the bed and head for the door, I needed fresh air or something.

 

Josh grabs my arm, “It is if we’re gonna be stuck together for two months!” His voice is sharp.

 

I yank my arm away, “Quit yelling, idiot!”

 

There’s a loud creak, and Asher moves down the hallway with his bags. He keeps his head down and doesn’t say a word, he leaves just as fast as he came. I push Josh inside the room and close the door.

 

“Look, I don’t really want to talk about it, it ain’t pretty.”

 

“Life isn’t meant to be pretty, Liz. You and I know that . . . Better than most people.”

 

I sigh and take a deep breath. “He broke up with me. It was maybe a few weeks before spring break.”

 

“Any reason why?”

 

I shake my head, “He didn’t give me any reason. He just said that he wanted to break up. We argued and I got pissed and he left. That was it.”

 

Josh didn’t say anything, he just stared at me for a while then looked at the ground.

 

“A part of me,” my voice cracks and I take a deep breath. “A part of me knew it was coming. I could see it in his face. He wasn’t as happy anymore. He didn’t smile as much . . . I knew he didn’t love me, hell I knew from the beginning he wasn’t into me. But I thought - ” my voice cracks again, and I sniff.

 

“I thought I could change his mind. I thought maybe, if I tried hard enough, I could convince him to love me. If I showed him enough good things about me, he would –” I gave up on talking after my vision blurred. The room was nothing but crème and brown swirls. A dark blob approaches me and I feel hot hands wrap around my body. Josh’s arms are strong, and he smells like autumn leaves, like a candle I once had. I stuff my face into his chest, he feels like he has a fever. The smell of leaves almost knocks the feeling from my knees.

 

I cry. As much as I don’t want to, I cry and let the tears stain his shirt. Josh strokes the back of my hair and whispers that I can let it all out. It feels good.

 

Amaryllis POV

 

Jet and I take a hike. Jet said that it would be good to stretch our legs after the long drive. It took about three days alternating between Jet and Josh driving.

 

“It’s real nice out here, this isn’t exactly how I wanted to come down with you like this but . . .”

 

“Mm.”

 

“There’s a lake not too far and a cliff view that’s gorgeous at sunset.”

 

“Jet?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Are you in a pack?”

 

Jet chuckles after a pause, “Twenty questions again?”

 

I bite my lip.

 

“How  ’bout this? We’ll take turns. I mean, I want to know about you too, kitten.” Jet turns and looks at me, and I almost run into him. The closeness makes my heart skip a beat, and I smell spices again. I’ve been trying to identify which ones, but I’m no expert on cooking or herbs. I think I can smell barley.

 

“You answer mine first.”

 

“Yeah, kind of. It’s just me and Josh. It’s only so other hounds don’t bother us.”

 

“Are you an Alpha?”

 

“Ah, it’s my turn kitten. Hmm . . . what do you like to do? You got any hobbies?”

 

I bit my lip, turning my necklace over and over in my hands, it was a small trinket my grandma sent to me. “Photography. I like taking pictures, but I do it in my free time.”

 

“I’ve never seen you take any pictures before.”

 

“That’s because you take up my free time. My turn.”

 

I take some steps away from Jet, in an aimless direction.

 

“Are you an Alpha?”

 

“You’re not letting me off the hook, huh?”

 

He grabs the back of his neck and rubs, looking up at the trees for a second. “I’m an Alpha, I guess. At least in comparison to Josh. But if you ask anyone else, they might say I’m a Beta.”

 

“I don’t get it.”

 

“Hell hounds are ranked on their dominance based on Greek letters. It’s not exactly set in stone, your dominance is relative to who’s around you. You know, some pound their chests harder than others. It’s all relative.”

 

I chuckle, “You sound like some sort of math teacher.”

 

Jet scowls just slightly, “How about music? What are you always listening to?”

 

I push the tips of my shoes together and stare at them. This never turned out well. No one really liked my music much, especially music buff kids. I didn’t like to share with others anymore, not after hearing it torn apart so much.

 

“P-pop music,” I finally mumbled. “American pop music, K-pop, J-pop, um . . . alternative? I’m not really good with genres, I just hear music and decide if I like it or not.”

 

Jet nods, I already knew he liked rock from all the rides he’s given me. The old kind too, traditional or something.

 

“What are your parents like?”

 

“Hmm? My old folks? They’re purebreds, which makes me special or somethin’. My mom’s got a hot temper and my Dad’s the one with the cool head, but he’s pretty strong. My mom kinda ran the place though, she called all the shots around the house.”

 

It seemed like the women might be a bit more in control than the guys. At least in Jet’s family.

 

“What about you? Your pops around?” Jet looked at me from the corner of his eye, he voice was cautious. Maybe he was curious, but afraid to ask.

 

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t wanna,” he says causally after some silence.

 

“He took off I guess. My mom told him she was pregnant and he ran off with another woman. That’s what she tells me anyway.”

 

“Oh . . . I’m sorry.”

 

I shook my head, “Don’t be, it’s not like it’s your fault. It doesn’t bother me much. It’s not like I knew the guy. It’s always just been me and my mom.”

 

There’s a rustling sound for a second. “C’mon, I wanna show you somethin’.” Jet grabs my hand and starts walking somewhere random. We brush past a lot of trees, branches and leaves crunching under our feet. It feels like we’ve been walking forever before a path clears and the cliff he mentioned before is laid out in front of us.

 

The sun is lined up on the horizon, the sky is a mix of fading pink into orange into red. The forest trees are glowing with the sun’s last few glimmers, and the vast open space hits me for the first time. My breath is taken away while staring at it.

 

“I wanted to watch this with you for a while,” Jet says with a sheepish smile. His head is down, but he glances up at me through his hair and my heart breaks in two.

 

So we sit there and watch the sun set. I place my hand on top of his and lean into his chest and indulge into his scent. I think he smells like Thyme too.


	19. Chapter 19

Eliza’s POV

 

The chirping of birds was a familiar sound, maybe even a bit comforting at this point. The sun rays invading my eyelids was a familiar sight, not nearly as comforting at first. The smell of bacon and the popping of grease on a stove were both unfamiliar to me. No one in our house were cooks, most days was every man for himself, and dinner was a collective attempt to make a disaster. 

 

I threw the blanket from my body and lunged up. My head ached. I held the side of my head as I waited for it to still. I zombied my way downstairs, as slowly as I think I could go, one foot after another. I groaned some noise. I moved towards the kitchen, over the counter separating the living room I invaded and the kitchen stood Josh. 

 

Josh wore the same clothes from last night, wrinkled to all hell. His hair was tousled, his curls thrown in all directions atop his head. Where did he sleep? I can’t seem to remember anything from last night. I open my mouth only to catch the empty couch in the corner of my eye. A blanket laid on top of it, tangled like the forgotten pieces of a puzzle a child deemed too hard to finish. A white blanket turned at an angle a top of it. 

 

But still, what did I remember? I couldn’t bring up much of last night. Josh turns his head towards me, his eyes gleaming with some humor of a joke I didn’t catch. A twitch of annoyance jumped up in my chest, but I held it down. 

 

“What happened last night?”

 

“Nothing,” he says with a devilish smirk. 

 

“Calm down, sunshine. We watched movies for most of the night. You drank yourself to all hell so I carried you to bed before you wrecked yourself. I slept on the couch.”

 

I eye him wearily. 

 

“Nothing happened,” he assured, though a bit more sternly this time. 

 

Josh was an ass, a real jerk sometimes. This much I knew, but he wouldn’t overstep boundaries. He could be a real sweetheart sometimes. I’ll believe him. 

 

My eyes dart to the stove, bacon was indeed on the stovetop. Josh was mixing something in a bowl, a white mush I hoped he would be able to melt into pancakes. I couldn’t remember Josh’s cooking; but when I did think on it, no alarms went off, no black smoke, no charred pieces in the food. I mean he got this far just fine, so maybe this will all be ok. 

 

Or at least I wanted to be okay. I wanted to be okay ever since the graveyard, ever since I first knew that Mich . . . 

 

No. No Mich. No more tears, no more feeling sorry for myself. I had to force myself to get over it. 

A hot hand on my shoulder breaks me from my thoughts. I was leaning against the countertop, head in my hands. 

 

“Take it easy Liz,” Josh mutters low, but his gruff voice invaded my ear. Too close for comfort, too close for safety. 

A warm sensation against my shoulder blade, rough lips trailing up to my shoulder. I let out a sigh . . . a much louder sigh than I wanted. 

 

I turn around, but in that same moment, Josh was already pulled away. To bacon, lifting them from the stovetop and placing it onto a platter. 

Food. Yes. Food shouldn’t burn. He’s still cooking. I blink a million times. 

 

I move to the kitchen table and plant myself in a chair. Josh chuckles. 

 

“You think this is for you?”

 

I stare at him dumbly before I realize what he means. 

“I don’t want your shitty cooking!”

 

“That’s bold for  **you** to say.”

 

I bit my bottom lip, there was no response I could throw at him right now.  

 

Josh pulls out a new pot and covers it with cooking spray, then he pours a bit of batter in it. We sit in comfortable silence, at least until I got bored. 

 

“How much longer will we be here Josh?” Three weeks worth of time in this little cottage. It was quaint, I’m sure. But it didn’t make much sense anymore when they spoke of driving into the nearby town to stock up on things we needed. We could just go home instead. 

 

Josh didn’t respond. “Why are you dragging this along?”

 

I stare at his back for a while. Tracing my eyes along the abstract tattoo on his back. It wasn’t until he turned and set a plate of food down that I remembered I was supposed to expect a response from him. 

 

I search his eyes, a strange shade of amber I could never place. A dirty rusty reddish-brown, and yet is never ceased to fascinate me. I start eating my food. 

 

* * *

 

I pick up the empty dishes and pour them into the sink. I could hear Josh get up and clamour over to me as I grabbed the sponge and poured soap onto it. Josh could never seem to make his footsteps quiet. There was no sneaking in with him, and sometimes I used to think he did that on purpose. 

 

“At least let me do this.”  _ Since you cooked.  _ Josh was doing a lot for my sake, and it was sweet. Kind, but I didn’t want to be tended to like a child forever. 

 

No sign of protest. Not that I was going to listen to any of it anyway. I scrubbed away at a few dishes. I listened to the seconds click away on the clock. Warmth flooded my back again, something heavy pushing down on my shoulder, and hot air blew against the back of my ear. Goosebumps formed along my arms and I tried to hide my shudder. Josh rubs his too-hot hands down my arms. 

 

“You’re way too hot.”

 

“Why thank you,” I could hear the smirk in his voice. 

 

“No. I mean, like your temperature is freakishly warm. Are you sick?” I turned around to find his face too close. 

 

“I don’t know . . . am I?”

 

I stared at him dumbly. He chuckles. 

“You know, most people would feel the forehead to see.”

 

I glared at him. “My hands are soapy.”

 

“That’s fine.”

 

“I’m going to put soap in your hair.”

 

“A bath sounds just fine to me.”

 

I huff, spin back around and finish up the dishes. I toss them away and march upstairs.

“I’m going to take a shower, don’t follow me.”


	20. Chapter 20

Amaryllis’s POV

 

It was simple. The weather hit ninety-eight degrees, so we went to the nearby lake to cool off. I wondered if the boy’s bodies would make the water hotter, but after being in the water for five minutes, everything seemed fine. It was fun, we cooled off in the water, played a few games, climbed Jet’s and Josh’s back. Eliza even smiled. 

 

We didn’t return home until sun down. Jet and Josh decided to head into town while it was still cool. 

 

I suppose my heart skipping a beat when I found the door unlocked was an understatement. I couldn’t seem to find air to breathe in. But I was fine, I mean Asher might have forgotten to lock it. Maybe he was asleep upstairs, and everything was fine. Everything was just fine. Even as I peered into the darkness and I saw the chaos of the room, the upturned furniture and clawed walls. Even as I saw blood drops trailing the hallway and into the living room. Even as Eliza moved before I did, rushing over to Asher and screaming. 

 

Everything was just fine.

 

* * *

  
  


“Ah!”

 

“Quit whimpering,” Eliza growls. 

 

“You’re awfully rough with him Liz.” 

 

Eliza huffs, closes up the rubbing alcohol and moves to the couch. I sigh and dig through the first aid kit for the gauzes as Liz pulls out her phone. 

 

“You were beat pretty bad.”

Asher had a deep gash in his lower torso. It was deep and bleeding very badly, and I looked away at the view of something white protruding out from his skin. Eliza was tapping her foot rapidly, hanging up the phone and dialing someone else. 

 

I turn back to Asher, the white bone was gone, covered by skin. I finish wrapping the gauze around him anyway. I take a wet washcloth and begin wiping away the blood on his face. 

 

“She came here Amaryllis.” My hand twitches, stopping against his cheek. My eyes meet his, serious and burning. A fiery warning, and yet an apology all the same. 

 

“None of this is your fault,” I blurt out before he began. Asher blinks. Once, twice. He wasn’t expecting me to say this. I wasn’t either. But I always seem to act strange around him. 

 

“The boys aren’t picking up.”

 

Damn. I look down at Asher’s shirt. Ripped off and thrown aside by Eliza, who ignored the poor boy’s protests. We could wait until Jet and Josh return, but then we’d be sitting ducks for Chris’s girlfriend to return. We could try to make a run for it somewhere safer, but I would worry sick about Jet and Josh. But they were hellhounds after all, they could certainly handle themselves . . . . right?

 

I eyed Liz, who had put her phone away and crossed her arms on the couch. I needed to tell her the truth. If any of these plans were to fly with her, she needed to know. I opened my mouth but no words came. Maybe guilt stopped me, this was not my secret to tell. Jet trusted me enough to finally tell me, maybe for my own good safety rather than his, and I didn’t want him to regret it. I could only hope that Eliza would be able to figure it out on her own, or maybe Josh would tell her. 

 

“We need to go,” Asher pushes himself up, offering a faint grunt as he rose. 

 

“What about a police report?”

 

Silence, a long pause. “Let Jet handle it,” I blurted. By the look on Asher’s face, that’s what he wanted anyway. But there was a little chance he wanted to face Eliza’s wrath either, he was no Josh. 

I shoot Liz a pleading look. This looks bad, I know, but we were desperate. And we all knew we couldn’t stay here. I text both Jet and Josh and Asher writes a note just in case. We pack our things as quickly as we can and hop into Asher’s pickup.

 

* * *

  
  


Eliza drove. Asher sat in the back, because we’re still pretending he’s injured. The truth was, if anything happened, he could at least throw himself as a distraction while we floored it. 

 

“Something weird is going on, right?”

 

My head snaps up to Liz. Her eyes are focused on the road.

“You don’t need to explain . . . Not now at least. But I know something’s up and I want explanations when this is all over.”

 

I gulped. Thank you Liz. 

 

“The least I can tell you is something is chasing us, something that wants revenge against Jet. And it’s using us as leverage against him.”

 

Liz blinks a few times. Probably trying to figure out how she got caught up in all this. A poor bystander that got trapped within the raging blaze. 

Eliza turns on the radio, rubbing off a cake of dust from the volume knob. I wondered if Asher even bothered to listen to music in the car, perhaps he was the sit-in-silence kind of guy that drifted through his own thoughts. I drifted off to sleep. 

 

By the time I woke up, we were pulled to the side of the road. It was dark. A cornfield was out in the distance, and not a single car whirred by. Eliza was asleep at the wheel, probably just a pit stop for a few hours. I peeked out the back window at Asher, he was already alert and awake. I could smell the nicotine from here, but yet he was pulling the cigarette from his mouth and snubbing it out. He looked out into the distance, hyper focused on the black depth of the horizon.  

 

“What’s wrong?”

“We have company coming in hot,” Asher mumbled in a low gruff voice. 

I shake Eliza a bit harsher than I intended. She rubs her eyes, then looks at me, frustration light in her features. 

 

“Trouble. We gotta go.”

Liz groans and sluggishly sits herself upright. She turns the key and the engine groans, sputters, then dies. Liz turns the key again, and again, there’s a sputter before the inevitable death of the engine. 

“Damn car. Work!” Liz growls, turning the car again when it comes alive. Liz smiles and reaches for the gear shift when the car lurches forward. There’s the sound of scraping metal, I hated that sound. From the rearview mirror, two wolves were fighting each other. Asher was gone from the truck. 

 

“What the fuck?! Where did Asher go?!” Liz’s voice is horse and barely audible over the barking. My eyes are too focused onto the fight. They bit, they growled, they rolled around. Asher was no fighter, and a part of me couldn’t leave him. Couldn’t let him die here. Not here, and not like this. The wolves tackle each other into the cornfield, a whimper ensuing as the weeds settle. 

 

“Liz drive home and go get help,” I’m screaming as I push open the door. Whatever Eliza screams behind me I ignore. I’m dashing as far as I can into the field, even long after my legs ache and my lungs are burning. I finally stumble out of it, into a clearing. 

 

The girl from before - it just occurred to me that I don’t even know her name - stood menacingly a few feet away from Josh. She was bloodied, sure, beaten and bruised, and even breathless. But Asher was the weaker of the two. I rushed over to his naked body and clung to him - nevermind the blood seeping onto my own clothes. Both of them were nude, clothes long ripped the shreds back on the main road. 

 

“Let him go.” The woman growls. 

I was gasping for air, tears streaming down my face. I probably looked hysterical, and yet I couldn’t help myself. Asher was here in my arms, wheezing just barely huffs of air, bleeding profusely and a pained expression. His chest rose and fell in hard heaves, but yet he was barely breathing through his mouth. 

 

“He’s mine, girl.” Another low growl, a warning. Perhaps the last one, she certainly wouldn’t be a merciful as last time. 

 

“Leave me,” Asher whispers. His wounds were already healing. I could find comfort that if I achieved nothing else, I helped buy enough time for Asher to heal. 

 

“No.”

 

“Please, Ama.”

 

I cried harder, tears dripping onto his cheeks. “No.”

 

A sharp pain in the back of my head interrupts me. Something yanked at my hair with such force I automatically let go of Asher, for fear of my head being ripped off my own shoulders.

 

“I said he’s mine!” I’m flung to the left. 

She lifts Asher with ease, as if he’s a sack of potatoes. Asher pushes her and stands. 

 

“I’ll go. Just leave her alone. Leave them all alone.”

 

A slow smirk appears on her face, “Your friends are long gone, I dragged them back to hell already. You’re coming with us regardless.”

 

A pause. Asher nibbles his bottom lip for a moment. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

The girl rolls her eyes, then she glides her hand down the air. In its wake was a bright light, red and burning. I could instantly feel a rush of hot air hit my face. It was overwhelming, I felt like I would melt if I got any closer. 

 

“Amaryllis!” His voice was weak, a desperate plea.

 

“J-Jet!” I’m not sure if my wail was even decipherable. It felt like I screamed more than tried to say his name, from the thick rocks in my throat I wasn’t able to offer anything else.

 

“I won’t fall for your tricks. Let me see them,” Asher demands. 

 

A huff of anger, but yet she complied. Reaching in with both hands, Jet and Josh were summoned from the . . . portal thing. My heart leaped, and I pushed myself off the ground. In a flash, Asher tackled the unnamed woman. 

A blur, a bright flash, and the portal was gone. 

 

“Ama!” Jet yells and immediately his body heat surrounds me. Josh was yelling something in the distance. All I could smell was fucking Thyme.

 

And yet, all my mind wondered was . . . 

 

“Asher?” I whimpered.


End file.
